This was one of the best films I've ever seen in my entire life.
Regardless of what others may think..it was so beautiful. I loved it.
shareYes, I also enjoyed it very much.
I've been fascinated by Keats (and his relationship with Fanny Brawne) ever since I first read Walter Jackson Bate's bio. I've also read Andrew Motion's bio of Keats, which was the one that inspired Jane Campion.
It was a beautiful film. The cinematography and costumes were lovely. I thought that the acting was superb by both Cornish and Whishaw, as well as by the supporting cast. I thought that there was depth and subtlety in how their romance was portrayed. It was made more poignant by the fact that Keats and Fanny both knew he would not live very long and that they would be denied much time together.
I've read quite a few comments about how viewers are disappointed that this film did not receive recognition from the Oscars and some other awards. Yes, that was disappointing. Maybe I'm just getting old, but it seems with each passing year the Oscars become less relevant. They are political and many of the wins are based on which films grossed the most money. People also win awards or are at least nominated because they are adored by most of Tinseltown, and conversely some people are not recognized because they are generally disliked or have political views that are distasteful to some influential people in the business. I believe that the awards should be given on talent and artistry alone, regardless of whether the actor, director, etc. is a pleasant person or brought in the most money, but I'm fairly sure that's not how it works. The Academy also does sometimes award those who are genuinely great at their craft, so it's kind of a mixed bag.
It always gets me when an actor has done excellent work for 30 years or so but has never won (in some cases never been nominated), then the Academy will decide to give them an honorary sward when they are old and doddering and close to death. It's a strange business.
Indeed you are correction in your introspection as far the Oscars becoming less relevant. This is the first year I can remember in years where I did not sit glued to the t.v. on Oscar night and did not watch the Oscars at all. If the Academy Awards were worth their salt, I believe the majority of the awards would go to low budget indie films but that doesn't happen often does it? People in America are still under the assumption that if a movie makes a bunch of money, it must be better than a low budget film never even considering the marketing and mass production of movies to cater to a particular audience that are like locusts, ready to comsume entire fields of food without caring what's going down their gullets. Sick.
I think she's the saddest girl ever to hold a martini.
The Hurt Locker, which is an independent film, is the least shown film of any Oscar winner, ever, according to the experts. It was never shown in more than 500 theatres at one time, and that was at it's peak. Audiences haven't seen it, and I'm willing to bet that a majority of the Academy members who voted for it didn't see it either. So why did it win all those awards? Was it that good? No, I think is the perfect example of why, as tigerbos says, the awards are becoming increasingly irrelevant. The awards are based on personal biases and friendships but at the same time driven by the desire of the Academy and its members to appear to be "artsy" and above it all. Who is nominated and who wins is based on a complex congruence of hype, reputation, and a bizarrely strange pattern of awarding someone because they are popular (Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon to name just a couple) and/or because a more deserving performance from the past failed to win. (This happens so often that are too many examples to name.) Yes, tigerbos, part of that hype is money. Even though THL didn't bring in the dollars, it was "safe" to push it along in a year where one film has made more than a billion? two billion? dollars and the industry is floating once again in money. It was the time to finally recognize a film dealing with the wars that have been going on for going on a decade now.
There's a lot of talent out there. I'm not faulting any of the nominees for being talented purveyers of their craft. But the point of giving awards, it would seem, is to recognize the extraordinary. Instead they tend to follow the money...maybe not box office, but promotion and private deals...and the hype. I'm not even going to address the fact that the Oscars has become a television show, designed for ratings, instead of the ideal it wants to be seen to promote. Come on. Ten best picture nominees? And not one of them this absolute gem of a picture, Bright Star?
"People in America are still under the assumption that if a movie makes a bunch of money, it must be better than a low budget film..." Yes, very true. But what bothers me is that the industry thinks that too. Money walks and money talks.
"I'd never ask you to trust me. It's the cry of a guilty soul."
You really think the Academy voted for a film they never saw? You truly are delusional.
shareNo, but you are naive. The Academy is top loaded with aged and/or disinterested members who are notorious for letting their housekeepers, children, lovers, spouses, etc, fill out their ballots. It doesn't control the ballot, by any means, but it helps skew the results. In addition there have long been stories of members previewing a film for a vote rather than settling in and really watching it.
I stand by what I wrote above.
"I'd never ask you to trust me. It's the cry of a guilty soul."
You used the word "disinterested" wrong. It's uninterested. But whatever, I'm sure someone who doesn't care about the definitions of words will believe your carefree caprices.
shareYes, so it is, uninterested.
When one cannot argue intelligently, it is always preferable to attack the superficial. How I despise the grammar police on this informal board.
"I'd never ask you to trust me. It's the cry of a guilty soul."
How do message boards work? WITH WORDS, DUDE. IF YOU USE THE WRONG ONES, IT SHOULD BE POINTED OUT. How can anyone take you seriously if you don't even know to read and write?
I'm done with you, I'm not responding.
Give us all a break won't you? It seems your primary objective here is to insult others instead of talking about the film. If you cannot find anything intelligent to say, then go find someplace else to dig your dirt.
I think she's the saddest girl ever to hold a martini.
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You do know that Dictionary.com is totally useless right? The Oxford English Dictionary is the standard. Just because a word has been misused for this long (torturous and tortuous is a good example) doesn't mean it has now established. Careful WRITERS do not misuse this word--I am one of those people.
I read the dictionary for fun, so take your dictionary.com platitudes elsewhere, because disinterested will always mean unbiased.
"I read the dictionary for fun, so take your dictionary.com platitudes elsewhere..." Pardon me, but that says alot, as in plenty, as in revelatory.
Language should try to always be as precise as possible in order to allow us to be properly understood. But it is also ever evolving, ever changing with the culture.
But be that as it may be, I used a word incorrectly. However, I believe that 9/10 of the readers would understand the meaning of what I was trying to say. Let it go.
"I'd never ask you to trust me. It's the cry of a guilty soul."
Just ignore the academy. They're no yardstick for quality. I'm guessing that most of the viewers watch it because of the designer gown contest.
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I love you too but I'm going to mace you in the face!
I loved Bright Star, But I have to say that I do believe Hurt locker was "THAT GOOD" and well deserved it's Oscar. Too bad they couldn't both win. But hurt locker served a similar kind of art to the audience. Intense emotion, a small intimate group operating in very special circumstances, revelations through an intense interplay of character, how even highly intelligent, gifted people let themselves get trapped by their circumstances.
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