This independent film, is truly a tragic love story. There really is no other way to describe it. With beautiful visual shots and stunning landscape displays interspersed throughout the film, director, Jane Campion, captures the famous poet, John Keats’s (don’t worry, I’d never heard of him before either) short lifetime of rise and fall.

This film is staged in 1818 London. English poet, John Keats (Ben Whishaw) is at his wits end attempting to create poetry in order to survive. Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) is an unusually out-spoken young lady with a taste for outlandish and upcoming fashion. Fanny, most critical of Keats’s work, hears that Keats is nourishing his sick and dying younger brother, and is touched by his sincere generosity and kind character. She asks him to teach her about poetry, and the love spell begins. The two enmesh themselves into a passionate and consuming love affair, one that spurs on the ingeniousness that Keats can create through words. Spoiler Alert: Sadly, society and sickness tear the two apart and the audience is left with a truly tragic yet triumphant love story.

I will say that Bright Star was visually gorgeous. The stimulating colors and contrasts quite literally held my attention throughout the film. Although the script was quite poetic and particularly crafted, I noticed it was difficult to stay on task. A few times I had to force myself to concentrate on what the characters were saying and what that necessarily meant. In reality, I almost felt like I was watching a theater play.  Bright Star‘s main triumph is the poetry and the visually striking costumes. In fact, this film won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Costume Design. This would not be a film I would watch again, however. In my opinion, this period piece lacked a genuine story and lost my attention a number of times. If you can stand a bulk of language and very little action, then this film is for you!  History bit: When John Keats was alive, his poetry lacked popularity. It was only after his young death (at the age of 25) did his poetry skyrocket. Today, he is known to be one of the most influential Romantic era poets.