Bright Star

I'm not the biggest fan of Jane Campion. Although "The Piano Lesson" was very well done, and the acting was great, it didn't move me enough to propel me to watch it again. "In the Cut" wasn't the finest film of all, it was long and sometimes boring, and Meg Ryan annoyed me.

But I can't even begin to describe how much I loved "Bright Star". Movies such as "Pride and Prejudice" and even the very good "Atonement" pale in comparison. "Bright Star" is amazing because it is romantic without being mushy, overall sad but with happy moments making the love story all worth it. Jane Campion mixes drama, comedy and poetry admirably, and attains to perfection when filming the rare instants of grace that John Keats and Fanny Brawne experience. She makes them beautiful, because in your mind, they last forever. Nevermind the sadness and the unfortunate ending -- those delicate, fragile and of course short-lived moments make this movie alive and real. They make it beautiful, cinematically and humanly. The cinematography is breathtaking (kudos to Australien DP Greig Fraser) . I also can't think of a couple that had as good a chemistry as Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish do, since Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in "Moulin Rouge!". And of course the magnificent verses of Keats only add to the cinematic experience.

"Bright Star" just came out here in France, and I read that it didn't get the best reception in the United States. To say it is a shame would be a terrible understatement. It reminded me how much I love movies, and made me cry more than any Keira Knightley's forced mimics ever will.
Honestly, there are so many bad movies out there, you need to hang on to the ones that make your love of movies come alive again (not that it ever died...). This is one of them.