I had passed this film up when it was in the theater. It seemed then to be too much of a standard period piece with not much new/interesting to offer. It seems now like I was right. Bright Star is the story of John Keats. He is a poet with out money who falls for a woman whom he cannot marry. The marriage is not possible because, living with her mother and siblings - father out of the picture, she must marry for money. She becomes Keats muse, battling his poet friend and all of society for the right to be in a relationship for love. In the end, Keats dies and she wanders the Heath late into the night, never forgetting the man she loves.
At least I had hoped to learn a bit about Keats from this film, but really all I know is that he was a poet, had an inferiority complex in his field, had no money, and died of TB. Most of that I could have guessed. What is fascinating (although not new to this film) is how strong the forces of class were on women during that period. That a woman must marry for money, and that a poor man would refuse to marry a woman if he knew she had no money of her own. Where are the stories of the cobbler's daughter finding love and getting married to the blacksmith's apprentice, in spite of the fact that neither has money. Perhaps those stories are simply not interesting.
3 stars (out of 5)
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