Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #105: Bright Star (2009).

In 1818 London, the romantic poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) inhabits one half of a cottage with his rakish friend and patron Charles Brown (Paul Schneider). In the other half lives Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) with her widowed mother (Kerry Fox) and two younger siblings (Thomas Sangster and Edie Martin). Brown consider the flamboyant Fanny a distraction to Keats and his work, with her feisty willingness to speak her mind. But upon their first meeting it's love at first sight, which just keeps mounting until illness interferes tragically.

Bright Star couldn't possibly be further away from my usual cinematic taste (indeed when I went to see this I was expecting to be bored shitless but was pleasantly surprised), but just as with her Oscar-winning 1993 masterpiece The Piano, writer-director Jane Campion miraculously took me on a powerful journey with this most unashamed of period romantic dramas. Based on the actual love letters between Brawne and Keats and his celebrated poetry, Campion very sincerely and empathetically traces their romance from their introduction until its inevitably star-crossed conclusion which she handles delicately enough. At her command also is her The Piano collaborator Janet Patterson's period design which feels utterly authentic and evocative throughout, and Greig Fraser's nicely calm cinematography.

And as you'd expect from somebody who'd previously directed two Oscar-winning performances from the same movie, Campion helps her actors all outdo themselves here. Whishaw (who, ironically, in reality is now openly gay) shows strong balance and convincing passion as Keats, and Schneider is effective in his semi-comic relief part. But undoubtedly the prime reason to watch Bright Star is Abbie Cornish, who faced the hardest challenge here with her key emotional scenes but ultimately made it look like such a cinch. She will break your heart and leave you speechless.

This Bright Star is exactly that. No less.