INTRODUCTION
‘Bright Star’ is a film about two young individuals who met for a shorter duration and fell in love. Keats a poetic who was sick during this period got attracted to Fanny, and she was like a star to him because she made Keats look strong even though she knew Keats was going to die soon. Hence, the title bright star, since Fanny was like a shining star to Keats’ life.
The entire set up of this film do expose a romantic relationship between two young individuals, that is, Keats and Fanny. The film portrays the existence of genuine love between them, and I have to admit that there was an existence of real romance (Fuller & Graham 33). Even though Keats did not like women, his falling in love with Fanny can be considered mysterious. For instance, Keats is not in a position to admit that he is in love with Fanny. He could not explain such feelings. Therefore, it can be true that human beings do fall in love after having physical contact with one another. The film shows a clear insight of Keats’ poetry works. For instance, it shows the expressions of romantic feelings that existed between these two lovers. This is because most of Keats’ poems were love poems and the film express this very clearly.
This can be seen when he read a poem about high romans, during dinner at Mrs. Brawne house. This movie gives a real love insight and to value every moment we have with the person we love because we can lose them anytime. This is true according to the film because Keats seemed to walk in death while Fanny had a lot of hope and he knew that the future did not exist between them, only the present counted. Therefore his ‘bright star’ poem, the line ‘And so live ever – or else swoon to death’, apparently give an alert that we should cherish every moment we have with our dear one, more so those who we truly love (Fuller & Graham 33).
How Campion incorporated Keats works
Campion lets Keats act episodes where romantic expression is needed. For example, Keats was not only concerned about love, but he wanted to express himself to Fanny. And Campion had to ensure such expressions come out clearly during the film production process by allowing the person who was acting Keats part to use exact poem lines or letters of Keats. In this case, poetry had to come out as naturally as tree leaves or else it will not be poetry at all. And this was one of the concerns of Campion when she was writing scripts for the film. Keats in this movie is deliberately pushed into the background, thus making Campion draw her screenplay mostly on Keats poems as well as letters (James & Nick 35). Another way in which Campion incorporated some of Keats works is by choosing the film settings carefully. For instance, by having the setting at the denuding landscape which has Shakespearian theatricality, she brings the pre-emptiness mood in the movie.
The theme of melodrama undercut which uses plaintive violin shows this sadness as well as emptiness feeling. Additionally, it is through Keats writing job or else talent that he meets Fanny and the only language Keats used mostly was poetic language so as to express his feelings towards Fanny hence, Campion made good use of this. I do agree with Campion that the movie is less biopic because it begins with Keats meeting Fanny when he went to live with his fellow poet Mr. Brown due to financial difficulty (James & Nick 35). The entire film is built on the two lovers because they spent a shorter period together before Keats collapsing and dying, leaving Fanny lonely. Therefore, Campion had to use some Keats poetry works as well as his letter to make this film a reality. The most incorporated letters in this movie were Keats letters to Fanny, which were the best love letters ever written. Keats used these letters as well as his poetic lines to express his feelings to Fanny, whom he was much in love with although they spent less time together due to Keats’ sickness. On his letter to Fanny after going to Rome, Keats wrote, ‘on waking from my two days dream, I discover one as well as another amazed at my sloth and thoughtlessness.’ This reveals how deeply he loved Fanny, and he always thought about her. Therefore, Campion had to build her script based on various works of Keats so as to make the film to be more interesting (North & Julian 78).
Conclusion
This movie do express a true love, and it emphasizes that we should be in a position to love people around us because they are paramount. Also, we should make good use of our talents no matter the condition of our health as Keats as doing. He used poems and love letters to express himself adequately.
Work cited
Fuller, Graham. “Too Late Antique Vows.” Sight And Sound 19.12 (2009): 32-35. MLA International Bibliography.
James, Nick. “Romantic Setting.” Sight & Sound 19.12 (2009): 35-36. Art Full Tex (H.W Wilsin).
North, Julian. "Romantic genius on screen: Jane Campion’s Bright Star (2009) and Julien Temple’s Pandaemonium (2000)." The Writer on Film. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2013. 77-91.
