I am not that much of a film person; I don't find comedies funny, romances sicken me and horror is too mentally traumatising. I find 'arty' films devoid of story and novel adaptations disappointing and lyric destroying...I do not have the motivation to sit though 3 hours of story that can be explained to a friend in a sentence and it would never occur to me to watch a film on my own for entertainment at home. I have been to the cinema recently though; I found out that there was a film about Keats and could not resist going, even if to dissect it piece by piece.
Keats is my favourite poet, my fail proof inspirational literature that I return to still. Though he is now known as one of the greatest Romantic poets (and poets of all time), he died aged 25 virtually unknown. This film seeks to tell the tale of his three year romance with Fanny Brawne leading up to his death in 1821.
The trouble with these sorts of biographical tales is that the film makers have very little to go upon fact wise. This story is crafted using Keats' poems, and letter conversations between him and Fanny, these texts act as posts where everything in between is dramatised and fabricated. I knew this would be a problem for me, and indeed it was. Did Keats really walk miles and collapse in the shrubs outside his lovers home? Did he actually quote Bright Star to her as he lay upon his 'fair loves ripening breast'? I, like the director Jane Campion, do not know, but I highly doubt it.
Fanny Brawne (played by Abbie Cornish) is a dressmaker obsessed with designing new and progressive clothes and is constantly appearing in new flamboyant outfits. I'm not sure how historically accurate her fashionista personality is, but I imagine the shallow preconceptions of being clothes obsessed was designed to contrast with the deep musings of Keats.
Cynicism aside, I did enjoy the film. As these stills show, it is visually beautiful. Sets and scenes are perfectly chosen with hyperbolic visions of the moving seasons. It is worth going to see just for the subtle impact of these scenes.
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