Friday, May 28, 2010

REVIEW OF "BRIGHT STAR"


That's a musical number above, from the film "Bright Star" which was well reviewed when it came out in 2009, but which was afterward completely forgotten. I'll have more to say about the music in a minute.

The film's about my favorite poet of the Romantic Era, John Keats, and his never consummated love for Fanny Brawne. Reviewers liked the film, though some thought it was weak on story and was only saved by the performances. Some lamented that it never touched very seriously on Keats' poetry. They're right on both counts...well, half right...but if you liked films like "Shakespeare in Love," then you have to see it nevertheless.

I like a good love story, not only because I believe in the philosophy that underpins romantic love (discussed in previous posts), but because when these stories are done right they stimulate your thinking about everything else. To be in love is to live in a state of hyper awareness, when even the cracks in the sidewalk seem to have deep meaning. It's nice to be reminded of a time when we were fully alive, no matter how torturous it might have been in some respects.



To get back to the film's music: The top video is from the film and is a vocal adaption of Mozart's Serenade in B Flat, K361.  For comparison, here's (immediately above) an original, instrumental version of the same music. The vocal version stands up pretty well, I think.




In the film Fanny tells Keats that she doesn't like poetry because she can never understand what poems mean. Keats gives a great answer, one which applies to visual art (examples by Van Gogh above) as well as poetry: 

"The point of diving in a lake is not immediately to swim to the shore, but to be in the lake...to luxuriate in the sensation of water. You do not 'work the lake out.' It is an experience beyond thought. Poetry soothes and emboldens the soul to accept mystery."


Woooow! Well said! I think of what Keats said when I look at drawings by Van Gogh. No doubt they're about the beauty of the natural world, but they're also about the power of lines and the awesome human mind that can manipulate them so expressively. To borrow from Keats: you luxuriate in the lines...in the sensation of the flow of them, and of the dynamic spaces between them. 




7 comments:

Steven M. said...

It makes perfect sense!

Jorge Garrido said...

MAN! This was one film I considered seeing at TIFF! That and "The Trotsky." Now I regret not seeing it, because now both you and Quentin Tarantino named this among the top movies of 2009. Check out this hand written note he gave to the director.

http://www.totalfilm.com/features/quentin-tarantino-on-bright-star

http://www.laweekly.com/2009-08-20/film-tv/quentin-tarantino-serves-up-hitler-39-s-head-in-inglourious-basterds/5

Craig said...

One of the most beautiful, poetic and lyrical videos I've ever seen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Jorge: Sorry it took me so long to answer. Those were great links! I agree with a lot of what Tarantino said, though I'm a little hard=pressed to understand why so many directors are inspired by Rio Bravo.

Craig: Yes, I'm familiar with that film. i was surprised to see how many similar films were on this one's sidebar.

Jorge Garrido said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ardy said...

Wow, great post. I heard a lot of mixed stuff about this movie and was really unsure whether to see it. Now I feel obligated to watch it after reading this. I'll have to put this movie (and Rio Bravo) in my download queue.

Also, in that fascinating article Jorge linked, Quentin Tarantino laments the state of film criticism. Too bad he doesn't read blogs like this one, I think he'd be surprised.

Jorge Garrido said...

That post about Rio Bravo wasn't good. It's hard to organize my thoughts on the subject.