In Bright Star, I personally think that Jane Campion was in full command of the medium. She was able to construct and imagine the world of Fanny Brawne using only the words of John Keats. People may criticize this film as basically Twilight with costumes and high falutin’ words, but at least, Campion made it compelling!

I know this is cliche to say but I thought Bright Star was just pure poetry on-screen. I remember the first time I saw this, I was one of those Cornish skeptics (OMG she stole Ryan whatzisface from Reese Peanut Butter!). But wow, mah girl Abbie sold that performance. At least for me. And that breakdown (“unravelling”) scene of hers was completely genuine and a mark that Campion directed Cornish to a tour-de-force. If that one was a fake, I guess people who break down are just faking it as well!

Cornish aside, it was interesting how restrained (and thus, contemplative) this film was shot. I loved how Campion just observed instead of intruding. And that is the way it was supposed to be done. Okay, there were lots of money shots and beautiful vistas to cater to the cinephile’s hunger for visual composition. But this film was more than that. Jane Campion explored the “space” of love and romance in Bright Star. An example would be the famous (or infamous?) bedroom wall scene. That was almost L’Atalante-esque in its romanticism.

And speaking of observation, Campion chose to shoot most scenes as obscured by foregrounds (flowers, butterflies, branches,…) to evoke that certain voyeuristic sense. There were also shots through doors, windows and other openings as poetry is the window to the soul. We, as the audience, were taking a peek into the lives of these real personalities – people who touched the life of one of the world’s most celebrated poets. Nonetheless, since there is no official biography of Fanny Brawne and the film is basically Campion’s re-imagination, Campion also uses her visual eye (the OMG foregrounds) in alluding to the artifice of cinema. With careful composition, Campion invites us, no, seduces us into the world of Bright Star.