Out on DVD on Jan. 26th here in the states is Bright Star, Jane Campion's beautiful and heartbreaking cinematic rendering of the brief and star-crossed love affair between poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, starring Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish. I saw it in the theater, and left a little misty-eyed. I can't handle movies this achingly romantic and sad very often, but every once in a while, you've got to, just to remind yourself you're human. Of course, I will see (and own) every movie that Ben Whishaw appears in, but I have to say, if there's one performance in Bright Star that cries out for an Oscar nod, it's that of Abbie Cornish. She makes Fanny Brawne the sort of independent, creative soul you really care about, admire and feel for.
