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Title: Bright Star
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, this isn't a very sensual film. Just a slow one for kids at times. Recommended for ages 5 and up. |
People say that Hollywood doesn’t make movies like they used to. This is true but it’s also unfair. Times change. People move forward. “Surfing USA” may still be a catchy song, but released today it likely wouldn’t be a success. Likewise the acting of Marlon Brandon in “A Streetcar Named Desire” would be considered too theatrical for film if we were seeing it for the first time today. So while movies in the day may be great, most of the couldn’t be made today the same way they were made back then. Then Jane Campion comes along with her new film “Bright Star” to challenge the notion that old fashioned films couldn’t be made today. Here is a film that is rich in acting, writing, and atmosphere. It feels deliberately old fashioned yet timeless.
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The story is a European-style romance revolving around Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) who lives in a period where marriage is a woman’s future. Granted, this is only touched upon in the movie. She is neither pressured to marry nor does she spend a great deal of time contemplating the issue. Fanny meets a young poet by the name of John Keats (Ben Whishaw), and buys his book to see “if he’s all that he’s cracked up to be.” She finds his poetry to be flawed and unoriginal, but there’s something about it that touches her none-the-less. While she feels comparing love to stars and the rotation of the moon to be trite and cliche, the way he words it makes his words profound in a weird way.
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Alas, sometimes life can be as tragic as poetry. John gets sick, and the only way for him to get better is to move to another country. Until then though the two can take comfort in each others arms. And when I say arms I mean it in a literal sense. Watching this movie I could tell it was a labor of love for director Campion. It is not risque. People do not have passionless sex. When they need comfort they hold each other and look into each others eyes, loving the very presence of the other person. Campion was very wise to keep this old fashioned and at a classy PG rating. These days when Hollywood tackles old fashioned romance they claim it’s outdated, that they need to “freshen it up” a bit for today’s younger audience.
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Well of course it’s old fashioned: These people lived before the days of television. By keeping the movie looking and feeling like the time period it was set in gives the movie a timeless and enchanting feel to it. Yes it’s part love story and part tragedy, but it wouldn’t work if these characters were adulteress, sarcastic jerks. From the acting, to the setting, and especially the poetry this film is nothing short of magical. In fact pay close attention to the love poems, letters, and gestures. Don’t you get a feeling of pure love and bliss? That’s much better then having the characters jump into bed. With one of those the audience gets a five minute boner. With the other the audience walks away with a true understanding of the love these two people have for each other. Take a wild guess which one I prefer in the long run.
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