Bright Star (film)
Bright Star | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Jane Campion |
Written by | Jane Campion |
Produced by | Jane Chapman Caroline Hewitt |
Starring | Ben Whishaw Abbie Cornish Paul Schneider Kerry Fox Thomas Sangster |
Cinematography | Greig Fraser |
Edited by | Alexandre de Franceschi |
Music by | Mark Bradshaw |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures (United Kingdom) Pathé Distribution (France)[1] Hopscotch Films (Australia)[2] |
Release date |
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Running time | 119 minutes |
Countries | United Kingdom Australia France |
Languages | English French |
Budget | $8.5 million |
Box office | $14.4 million |
Bright Star is a 2009 British-French-Australian biographical fiction romantic drama film based on the last three years of the life of poet John Keats and his romantic relationship with Fanny Brawne. It stars Ben Whishaw as Keats and Abbie Cornish as Fanny. It was directed by Jane Campion, who wrote the screenplay inspired by Andrew Motion's 1997 biography of Keats; Motion served as a script consultant on the film.[3][4] The film was in the main competition at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, and was first shown to the public on 15 May 2009.[5] The film's title is a reference to a sonnet by Keats titled "Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art", which he wrote while he was with Brawne.
Plot[]
In 1818 Hampstead, the fashionable Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) is introduced to poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) through the Dilke family. The Dilkes occupy one half of a double house, with Charles Brown (Paul Schneider) occupying the other half. Brown is Keats' friend, roommate, and associate in writing.
Fanny's flirtatious personality contrasts with Keats' notably more aloof nature. She begins to pursue him after her siblings Samuel and Toots obtain his book of poetry, "Endymion". Her efforts to interact with the poet are fruitless until he witnesses her grief for the loss of his brother, Tom. Keats begins to open up to her advances while spending Christmas with the Brawne family. He begins giving her poetry lessons, and it becomes apparent that their attraction is mutual. Fanny is nevertheless troubled by his reluctance to pursue her, on which her mother (Kerry Fox) surmises, "Mr. Keats knows he cannot like you, he has no living and no income."
It is only after Fanny receives a valentine from Brown that Keats passionately confronts them and asks if they are lovers. Brown sent the valentine in jest, but warns Keats that Fanny is a mere flirt playing a game. Fanny is hurt by Brown's accusations and Keats' lack of faith in her; she ends their lessons and leaves. The Dilkes move to Westminster in the spring, leaving the Brawne family their half of the house and six months rent. Fanny and Keats then resume their interaction and fall deeply in love. The relationship comes to an abrupt end when Brown departs with Keats for his summer holiday, where Keats may earn some money. Fanny is heartbroken, though she is comforted by Keats' love letters. When the men return in the autumn, Fanny's mother voices her concern that Fanny's attachment to the poet will hinder her from being courted. Fanny and Keats secretly become engaged.
Keats contracts tuberculosis the following winter. He spends several weeks recovering until spring. His friends collect funds so that he may spend the following winter in Italy, where the climate is warmer. After Brown impregnates a maid and is unable to accompany him, Keats finds accommodation in London for the summer, and is later taken in by the Brawne family following an attack of his illness. When his book sells with moderate success, Fanny's mother gives him her blessing to marry Fanny once he returns from Italy. The night before he leaves, he and Fanny say their tearful goodbyes in privacy. Keats dies in Italy the following February of complications from his illness, as his brother Tom did.
In the last moments of the film, Fanny cuts her hair in an act of mourning, dons black attire, and walks the snowy paths that Keats had walked many times. It is there that she recites the love sonnet that he had written for her, called "Bright Star", as she grieves the death of her lover.
Cast[]
- Ben Whishaw as John Keats.
Keats was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death. During his lifetime his poems were not generally well received by critics and at age 25 he died believing he was a failure. However, his reputation grew and he held significant posthumous influence on many later poets. - Abbie Cornish as Fanny Brawne.
Like the real life Fanny Brawne, Fanny in the film is a fiery and fashionable eighteen-year-old who spends her time creating dresses, hats, and various other garments. She is also something of a flirt and enjoys attending balls, inciting Keats' jealousy. Though the real life Fanny Brawne went on to marry and have children, she never sold Keats' love letters. They were sold after her death by her children. - Paul Schneider as Charles Armitage Brown, Keats' best friend.
- Kerry Fox as Fanny's mother, a widow.
- Thomas Sangster as Samuel Brawne, Fanny's younger brother.
- Edie Martin as Toots, Fanny's younger sister.
- Antonia Campbell-Hughes as Abigail O'Donaghue Brown, housemaid and mother of Charles Brown's child.
- Claudie Blakley as Mrs Dilke
- Gerard Monaco as Charles Dilke
- Olly Alexander as Tom Keats, Keats' brother
- Samuel Roukin as John Hamilton Reynolds
- Amanda Hale as Reynolds' Sister
- Jonathan Aris as Leigh Hunt
- Samuel Barnett as Joseph Severn
Production[]
In addition to "Bright Star" several other poems are recited in the film, including "La Belle Dame sans Merci" and "Ode to a Nightingale". Both Campion and Whishaw completed extensive research in preparation for the film. Many of the lines in the script are taken directly from Keats' letters.[6] Whishaw, as well, learned how to write with a quill and ink during filming. The letters that Fanny Brawne receives from Keats in the film were actually written by Whishaw in his own hand.
Janet Patterson, who has worked with Campion for over 20 years, served as both costume designer and production designer for the film.[7]
The Hyde House and Estate in Hyde, Bedfordshire, substituted for the Keats House in Hampstead. Campion decided that the Keats House (also known as Wentworth Place) was too small and "a little bit fusty".[8] Some filming also took place at Elstree Studios.[9]
Reception[]
Critical response[]
The film garnered positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 83% out of 175 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 7.26/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Jane Campion's direction is as refined as her screenplay, and she gets the most out of her cast – especially Abbie Cornish – in this understated period drama."[10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[11]
Mary Colbert of SBS awarded the film five stars out of five. "If Campion intended to inspire an appreciation and rediscovery of Keats' poetry," she writes, "she has not only succeeded but herself created an artistic monument to his life, love, poetry and soul." Craig Mathieson stated in the same review that Bright Star is Jane Campion's "best work since The Piano, her epochal 1993 masterpiece."[12]
Poet and scholar Stanley Plumly, the author of Posthumous Keats: A Personal Biography, wrote of the film's writing and direction: "Jane Campion has understood the richly figurative in Keats’ life without sacrificing the literal wealth of its texture. She has evoked the mystery of his genius without giving up the reality of its dailiness."[13]
Box office[]
Bright Star grossed $3,110,560 at the box office in Australia.[14]
Awards[]
Award | Category | Subject | Result |
---|---|---|---|
AACTA Award (2010 AFI Awards) |
AFI Members' Choice Award | Jan Chapman & Caroline Hewitt | Nominated |
Best Film | Nominated | ||
Best Direction | Jane Campion | Nominated | |
Best Original Screenplay | Nominated | ||
Best Actress | Abbie Cornish | Nominated | |
Best Supporting Actress | Kerry Fox | Nominated | |
Best Cinematography | Greig Fraser | Won | |
Best Editing | Alexandre de Franceschi | Nominated | |
Best Original Music Score | Mark Bradshaw | Nominated | |
Best Production Design | Janet Patterson | Won | |
Best Costume Design | Won | ||
Academy Award | Best Costume Design | Nominated | |
Alliance of Women Film Journalists | EDA Award for Most Beautiful Film | Won | |
EDA Award for Best Supporting Actor | Paul Schneider | Nominated | |
EDA Female Focus Award - Women's Image Award | Jane Campion | Nominated | |
EDA Female Focus Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Film Industry | Nominated | ||
EDA Female Focus Award for Best Woman Director | Nominated | ||
EDA Female Focus Award for Best Woman Screenwriter | Won | ||
ACS Award | Cinematographer of the Year | Greig Fraser | Won |
ASE Award | Best Editing in a Feature Film | Alexandre de Franceschi | Nominated |
BAFTA Award | Best Costume Design | Janet Patterson | Nominated |
British Independent Film Awards | Best Director | Jane Campion | Nominated |
Best Actress | Abbie Cornish | Nominated | |
Best Supporting Actress | Kerry Fox | Nominated | |
Best Technical Achievement | Greig Fraser (For cinematography) | Won | |
Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Jane Campion | Nominated |
César Award | Best Foreign Film | Nominated | |
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Cinematography | Greig Fraser | Nominated |
Best Actress | Abbie Cornish | Nominated | |
Chlotrudis Award | Nominated | ||
CinEuphoria Awards | Best Actress - International Competition | Won | |
Best Costume Design - International Competition | Janet Patterson | Won | |
Top Ten of the Year - International Competition | Jane Campion | Won | |
Critics' Choice Movie Award | Best Costume Design | Janet Patterson | Nominated |
Denver Film Critics Society Award | Best Actress | Abbie Cornish | Nominated |
Evening Standard British Film Award | Best Film | Jane Campion | Nominated |
Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association | Dorian Award for Film of the Year | Nominated | |
Heartland Film Festival | Truly Moving Sound Award | Jane Campion | Won |
Houston Film Critics Society Award | Best Actress | Abbie Cornish | Nominated |
Inside Film Award | Best Cinematography | Greig Fraser | Nominated |
Best Editing | Alexandre de Franceschi | Nominated | |
Best Sound | Craig Butters | Nominated | |
John Dennison | Nominated | ||
Tony Vaccher | Nominated | ||
Best Production Design | Janet Patterson | Won | |
International Cinephile Society Awards | Best Picture | Nominated | |
Best Cinematography | Greig Fraser | Nominated | |
Best Actress | Abbie Cornish | 2nd Place | |
Nominated | |||
London Film Critics' Circle Awards | Best British Film of the Year | Nominated | |
Best Actress | Abbie Cornish | Nominated | |
National Society of Film Critics Awards | 3rd Place | ||
Best Supporting Actor | Paul Schneider | Won | |
Online Film & Television Association Award | Best Costume Design | Janet Patterson | Won |
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards | Best Actress | Abbie Cornish | 2nd Place |
Best Supporting Actor | Paul Schneider | Nominated | |
Satellite Awards | Best Film | Nominated | |
Best Director | Jane Campion | Nominated | |
Best Original Screenplay | Nominated | ||
Best Actress | Abbie Cornish | Nominated | |
Village Voice Film Poll | Best Supporting Actor | Paul Schneider | Nominated |
Women Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Actress | Abbie Cornish | Won |
Best Movie by a Woman | Jane Campion | Nominated |
Soundtrack[]
Lakeshore Records released the soundtrack for Bright Star digitally (iTunes and Amazon Digital) on 15 September 2009 and in stores on 13 October 2009. The film's soundtrack features original music by Mark Bradshaw with dialogue from the film voiced by Cornish and Whishaw.[15][16]
Track listing[]
- "Negative Capability" – 3:55
- "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" – 2:28
- "Return" – 0:58
- "Human Orchestra" – 1:48
- "Convulsion" – 0:52
- "Bright Star" – 1:49
- "Letters" – 3:49
- "Yearning" – 2:24
- "Ode to a Nightingale" – 5:24
Book of Love Letters and Poems[]
A collection of Keats's love letters and selected poems was published in 2009 as a companion to the motion picture, entitled Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne. The 144-page book was published by Penguin and includes an introduction written by Campion.[17]
Anecdotes[]
Composer Mark Bradshaw can be seen in the film as the conductor while the men choir performs the track Human Orchestra, which Bradshaw arranged from the third movement of the serenade for twelve winds and string bass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Actor Ben Whishaw, who plays John Keats, met Bradshaw on set. In 2012, they entered into a civil partnership.
References[]
- ^ "Film #32284: Bright Star". Lumiere. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
- ^ "Bright Star". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ Michael Phillips, "Talking Pictures" on chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
- ^ movies.yahoo.com Archived 27 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Bright Star". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
- ^ Beal, Jane (24 October 2009). "Bright Star". The Poetry Place. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
- ^ McElheny, Meghan. "Five minutes with Bright Star costume designer Janet Patterson: Editors' Blog". Wmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
- ^ Anita Singh (15 May 2009). "Cannes 2009: film charts John Keats' romance with Fanny Brawne – in Luton". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 May 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
- ^ "Elstree Studios – Film and TV Search Bright Star". Elstreefilmstudios.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
- ^ "Bright Star (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ "Bright Star Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ Colbert, Mary; Mathieson, Craig. "Bright Star (review)". SBS. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
- ^ Plumly, Stanley (22 October 2009). "Bright Stars: Campion's Film of and from Keats". Poems Out Loud. W.W. Norton & Company. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ "Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
- ^ "Bright Star Soundtrack". Fanbolt.Com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
- ^ "Bright Star Soundtrack CD". Cduniverse.com. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
- ^ "Bright Star – John Keats – Penguin Group (USA)". Us.penguingroup.com. 16 September 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
External links[]
- Official website
- Bright Star at IMDb
- Bright Star at Rotten Tomatoes
- Bright Star at Box Office Mojo
- A chapter about John Keats, Fanny Brawne, and the poem "Bright Star" from Keats, the 1997 biography by Andrew Motion that inspired the film.
- 2009 films
- Australian films
- British films
- Films shot at Elstree Studios
- Pathé films
- BBC Film films
- English-language films
- Australian biographical drama films
- Films directed by Jane Campion
- Films set in London
- Films set in Rome
- Films shot in England
- 2009 romantic drama films
- British romantic drama films
- British biographical drama films
- Biographical films about poets
- Australian romantic drama films