Allen L Roland

Ben Whishaw, left, and Abbie Cornish in 'Bright
Star,' about English poet John Keats and his
love for Fanny Brawne

The Movie, Bright Star, not only shines but it illuminates a love so deep that it perfects both partners in their essential being ~ which is what all lovers seek but few have the courage to surrender to:

It was Teilhard de Chardin who wrote ~ "The only right love is between couples whose passion leads them both, one through the other, to a higher possession of their being ". And that is, in essence, the underlying deep love current of Academy Award winner Jane Campion's riveting romantic drama BRIGHT STAR ~ based on the three year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and his neighbor Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats' untimely death at age 25.

Keats and Fanny are both literally consumed by a love or soul connection that is deeper than themselves ~ but both unconsciously use it to discover deeper aspects of themselves. Keats's poetry becomes alive and he explores a new depth of feeling, by surrendering to this love, as seen in his Last Sonnet ~

Bright Star, would I were steadfast as thou art –
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like Nature’s patient sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priest-like task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors–
No–yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever ~ or else swoon to death.

Fanny becomes alive in her own way and explores a new depth of feelings within herself, by surrendering to this love, and truly becomes grounded in her heart in the process.

Their initial reaction to the experience of love reminds me of Nicole Krauss's delicious and madcap novel THE HISTORY OF LOVE which offers a knowing description of falling in love or through the rabbit-hole of love ~ " But now she seemed different to me. I became aware of her special powers. How she seemed to pull light and gravity to the place where she stood .. I half expected that in another moment I'd be able to make out the cells of her skin as if under a microscope ...But it didn't last long, because at the same time I was becoming conscious of her body, I was becoming aware of my own. The sensation almost knocked the breath out of me . A tingling feeling caught fire in my nerves and spread. The whole thing must have happened in less than 30 seconds. And yet, when it was over, I'd been initiated into the mystery that stands at the beginning and end of childhood. It was ten years before I'd spent all the joy and pain born in me in that less than half a minute."

Welcome to the sensory experience of love and written by someone who obviously knows its overwhelming power and mystery ~ as I most certainly do. http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2005/06/20.html

As a writer and a poet, I was profoundly moved by Campion's ability to weave the eloquent verse of Keats into the storyline without breaking stride. Like Krause, she fully caught the magic and mystery of first love as well as the pain ~ but also the ecstasy of creating verse from that state. The New York Times A.O. Scott, who wrote a wonderful review, makes the same point ~ " And while no film can hope to take you inside the process by which these poems were made, Ms. Campion allows you to hear them spoken aloud as if for the first time. You will want to stay until the very last bit of the end credits, not necessarily to read the name of each gaffer and grip, but rather to savor every syllable of Mr. Whishaw’s recitation of “Ode to a Nightingale.” http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/movies/16bright.html

Which is precisely what I and every member of the audience did last night ~ not moving and savoring Keats's verse throughout the entire credit role and fade to black. When is the last time you have experienced that ?

Bright Star shines under Jane Campion's steady hand and the entire cast is elevated by her subtle and powerful direction.

But to me, Bright Star shines because it illuminates the true intent of love ~ which is the honest and full expression of who we really are. As such, although this love was physically unconsummated it was thoroughly consummated on a soul level whereas both partners were perfected in their own being ~ which is the very definition of a love which all lovers seek but few have the courage to surrender to.

-###-

Allen L Roland http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2009/09/27.html

Freelance Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

Allen Roland’s weblog: http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/
Website: www.allenroland.com
ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY