Bright Star reviews, ratings etc. *SPOILERS*

[Saturn]

Keep reviews, videos, trailers etc on this thread please, the previous topic is now locked.

[Saturn]

A short clip from the Cannes Press conference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTZJ0RfyVFw

A three minute excerpt from the film, with French subtitles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0afEOtb-mM

So much for me avoiding reviews etc. bring it on!

[Saturn]

Thanks to johnkeatspoet for this information:

!!! WARNING !!! SPOILERS !!! DO NOT SCROLL DOWN ANY FURTHER TO AVOID !!!

Bright Star Movie Review at Cannes 2009

The movie Bright Star has been reviewed by French Canal+ television movie critics and gets a score of 63%. Comments vary considerably from one critic to another; ranging from "Disappointment", "Annoying", "Academic", "Neverending", "Overdone" to "Poetic", "Delicate", "Esthetic", "Spirited", "Faultless", "Distinguished", "A Good Film". The overall impression seems to be positive nonetheless, though the odds of winning the Palme d'Or appear to be very small.





To see the entire video, click : http://festival-cannes.canalplus.fr/video/le-palmometre
Then choose the video "Palmometre du 15/05" on the right.

[Malia]

A short clip from the Cannes Press conference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTZJ0RfyVFw

A three minute excerpt from the film, with French subtitles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0afEOtb-mM

So much for me avoiding reviews etc. bring it on!

Ah-ah! Saturn you are SO funny! LOL When I first saw your message that you didn't want to be spoiled I thought to myself, "By God that man has amazing self-restraint!" Whereas I jumped headlong into the clips like a diver into the deep!

I expect the movie will make an official showing in Ireland before it comes to America. I did read somewhere that it was going to come out here (read: LA and NY) on September 18th and so I expect to be able to watch it on Netflix by Christmas. I've already got the claret and appetizers party lined up!

[Credo Buffa]

Ooooo, yay! I'm particularly grateful for the second video link to the clips. Who knows, that may be the closest thing we get to a proper trailer (though I hope not). I'm liking Keats' fighting spirit coming out in that last bit, though I do find myself wishing that Ben Whishaw would have put on a bit more of a cockney accent for the role. I suppose there's always the danger of falling into a caricature with that, though, so maybe it was a discretionary choice so as not to distract/offend anyone.

Anyway, I'm glad we're finally seeing moving pictures after these couple of years! I read last week that Pathe was in serious talks while at Cannes about getting a US distributor to pick it up, so that's great news. There really can't be any doubt that the UK and Ireland will be seeing this film before we do in the States, but that's hardly unexpected. I still have high hopes that it'll at least go into limited release over here and that, living in a large enough population center, it'll show in at least one cinema somewhere in my city!

[Malia]

You are lucky to live in a large metropolitan area, Credo. Spokane is the largest city between Eastern Washington and (I think) Minneapolis but that's hardly saying much considering the states in between Washington and Minnesota are fairly sparsely populated. If I'm to see this movie on the big screen, I'll have to drive 400 miles west to Seattle. Might be worth a road trip, though. With gas and lodging, it will be the most expensive movie I'll have ever seen in the theatre!

At any rate, I know that the movie has been picked up for US distribution by a very new company that doesn't even have a name yet. That said, I expect this will be strictly an art-house film. But that's OK, because from the reviews I've read (and the small snippets of the film we've had the privelege to see) it looks like the Art House/period film/Masterpiece Theatre-loving crowd will gobble it up.

One interesting note: from the talk going around Cannes (that has made it into blogs/reviews), Abby Cornish is a frontrunner (if not *the* frontrunner) for a best actress award at the festival. The consensus seems to be that the movie, itself, will probably not win the Golden Palm, but it has been fairly highly rated by the International accademy achieving 33 out of 40 possible points.

[Malia]

Oh, one more thing. From the three scene snippits that have been released onto YouTube, I think I like best the scene where Fanny is reading a letter Keats wrote to her from Shanklin during the summer of 1819. Whishaw reads it very well and the cinematography is excellent. This seems like just a beautiful movie to *watch*. I hope it is nominated for an award in that area.

[Malia]

Here is a short video that interweaves scene snippets from the movie with interviews of Ben Whishaw and Jane Campion. Ben has some very good analysis of Keats's poetry (I found myself nodding sagely as he spoke ). Three of the scene snippets are those we've seen posted on YouTube. The first scene, however, is different so you may want to see the video just for that.

http://www.arte.tv/fr/Videos-sur-ARTE-T ... 41868.html

[Credo Buffa]

I WILL OBTAIN A COPY OF THAT POSTER THAT IS HANGING BEHIND THEM! My goodness, it's beautiful.

I agree, Malia. Ben Whishaw's reading of the letter is lovely. I posted the earlier video montage on my LiveJournal a few days ago and had a similar comment from one of my friends there about how that whole scene--the language, the colors, everything--creates such a gorgeous mood. I think that's what I'm most looking forward to: just hearing the words spoken by a talented actor on top of that impeccable cinematography. And if nothing else, it is going to be a visually stunning film. I was reading a short summary of it on Entertainment Weekly's website that was particularly complimentary to the costume design.

[BrokenLyre]

Thanks for keeping me posted on the movie. I just got the chance to see the clips tonight. Wow - so glad to see this. I especially like Ben's reading of Keats' letters. Let's all hope it comes to America this year - I'm still holding out for October-November.

[Malia]

BrokenLyre, Bright Star is set to be released in America on September 18th.

[BrokenLyre]

You're the best - thanks for the info!

[johnkeatspoet]

http://www.wat.tv/video/2524707/cannes-2009-sortie-salle-bright.html

Only 2 days left before the 2009 Cannes Awards Ceremony...

To past some time, here's a short 51-second video clip about some Cannes Film Festival spectators' first off-screen impressions on "Bright Star", just after having seen the movie.

Except for the last comment which is spoken in english, the others are in french. So for non french-speaking readers, here is a very rough translation of what they seemed to have said, all done by yours truly of course Enjoy!

Man in smoking : "The leading actress [Abbie Cornish] is adorable, thanks to her it was much more cool... thanks to her it was very good..."

Daughter and her mom : "Not as good as 'The Piano' [Jane Campione's 1993 Cannes Palme d'Or winner] but still it was marvelous ; [the daughter nods and says softly "I liked it so much"] ; It is poetic, tender, somewhat even loving, makes you want to be in love..."

Dude in tuxedo : "Very very emotional really, it was touching, the poems are absolutely magnificient, it's true that... it is sublime ; really very touching..."

Man and lady under umbrella : "Very very touching, the love between the two and the poetry, I liked it so much..." ; [man with umbrella agrees and replies in english]

P.S. All these comments are quite encouraging, perhaps "Bright Star" can even earn Jane Campion her second Palme d'Or !!!
That would be so incredible as she's the only woman to have won it so far! I didn't find the other competing movies exceptionnal by any means. Anyhow, I really hope "Bright Star" wins... I know it seems a bit far-fetched but I'm keeping my fingers 'star-crossed'.

[Malia]

Thanks for the reviews, johnkeatspoet --and especially for the translations I, too, am crossing fingers (and toes) that Bright Star wins big at Cannes. I don't think it will win the top prize, though--it seems that will go to the gangster/prison movie "A Prophet," which has only achieved high praise. While most reviews gush about Bright Star's lush cinematography and the brilliance of Abby Cornish's acting . . . quite a few reviewers thought it was kind of boring and that Ben Whishaw's Keats didn't have enough passion or gusto. I expect Best Actress will go to Cornish and at *least* a nod for cinematography--perhaps even best director for Campion. But I'll bet dollars to donuts that the Golden Palm goes to "A Prophet". I just say thank GOD it won't go to Tarantino. I'll admit it; the guy--let alone most of his movies--just grates on my nerves! I'm totally prejudiced against him. LOL

I expect that Bright Star will be good enough to satisfy most Keats lovers. Frankly, *anything* about Keats would satisfy me; even if it is "boring".

[Malia]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/20 ... en-whishaw

Above is a link to an interview with Ben Whishaw and how he embraced Keats's philosophy of Negative Capability when playing him in the movie. It also contains the now many-times seen 3 snippets from the movie; the interview part is interesting, though.