Jane Campion Essay

538 Words2 Pages

From director Jane Campion, a fantastic imagining of the ill-fated love affair between John Keats and Fanny Brawne, comes Bright Star. With delightful wit, Campion fleshes out this nuanced romance while bringing to life the styles, sights, and struggles of 19th century English life. However, despite the best efforts of director, cast, and crew, the production contains several errors which cannot be overlooked, contributing to a film that is lovable in moments and really quite unspectacular overall. In terms of adherence to character, the actors performed remarkably; Cornish (A Good Year 2006) displays a delightful affinity for quick, sharp utterances, spicing up otherwise plain sections of dialogue. Likewise, Schneider’s (Parks and Recreation 2009-2010) persona of jealousy and condescension as Mr. Brown were vital to the development of an engaging plot. As for Whishaw, he played the tortured Byronic Hero to a cue; his cautious movements, deliberate speech, and long pauses successfully personified the struggle of a working-class poet. …show more content…

Particularly in the case of Fanny, there seemed to be little room for development. Moreover, she quite seemed to implode by the end of the film: her wit dissipated, and both her confidence and oversized charisma were nowhere to be found by John’s death. In similar fashion, Fanny’s emotion and reactions start to lose credibility as one considers her actions throughout the production. While several conversations might lead one to believe that she actually is quite educated, other, conflicting statements cause one to doubt her authenticity, thus creating an internal struggle which distracts from her development and that of the film as a

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