MOVIE · 2009

Bright Star

DramaRomance119 min

In 1818 England, Fanny Brawne becomes fascinated by the reserved young poet living near her family friends, John Keats. Abbie Cornish is Fanny, quick-witted and fashion-minded, whose curiosity about Keats deepens after she reads his work. Ben Whishaw's Keats is shy, intense, and struggling to live by his writing, even as he begins teaching Fanny about poetry and returns her feelings. Jane Campion follows their courtship through drawing rooms, gardens, and letters, with money and social expectation pressing on every step of the relationship. Their romance grows in the narrow space between private feeling and public constraint.