MovieChat Forums > Bright Star (2009) Discussion > Most boring costume drama since Marie An...

Most boring costume drama since Marie Antoinette

posted 15 years ago by vk-miesbach
72 replies | jump to latest

Every second scene is utterly pointless and drawn out until it becomes painful to watch. The characters are mostly superficial, the dialogues uninspired - except for some of the quotes from Keats himself and a few snaps by a delightfully cynical Charles Armitage Brown (Paul Schneider).

Maybe one has to be a romantic at heart to find pleasure in the never ending portrayals of exaggerated feelings about the relationships of the characters. My capability to care has been over-strained.

[–] lieffeil76 15 years ago

I agree, it bored me half to sleep, I was glad when it finally ended. Left me untouched, unimpressed and I will most likeky never want or try to watch it again. Just another reason to stop trusting the ratings on imdb.

I see purple people eaters

[–] Danie_A 15 years ago

Must agree with you! I'm usually very into period drama/romance and have seen both actors in other movies and liked their performances, eg:perfume, somersault

and was eager to check out this one based on all the praise it's received only to find that I couldn't keep any interest (or my eyes open) in either characters...didn't help that I probably didn't care about the whole poetry "thing" or understand what the eff they were talking about most of the time...it was pure snooze fest for me and was just hanging on for dear life hoping that at some point the movie could be salvaged and that by some miracle it might snap me back in, but alas it didn't and I was left with a wasted couple of hours that could have been put to much better use! this movie in one word is,

B
O
R
I
N
G

I wish you joy and happiness, but above all this...I wish you love ..

[–] fanaticita 15 years ago

I loved this film and couldn't wait for it to come out on dvd. But then I'm a big fan of period drama, and have a hard time with high action, or slasher films. I loved every moment!!!

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] TheWumberlog 15 years ago

I think some people are confusing 'boring' with 'slow-paced'. There was also someone who criticised Austen in comparison to this film. I actually thought this movie was quite Austenesque -- with the drawn out story, the circumspect sensuality and vivid images of life in the nineteenth century.

I watched it with my mom, who normally loves period pieces, and she didn't like it, either. She specified that she thought the story was slow.

To like this film, you probably need a certain amount of patience. I think it was done purposefully, to evoke the patience the characters had to have in their own relationship.

Just sit back and enjoy it. It's not all about instant gratification.

[–] aGuiltySoul 15 years ago

...Bright Star is finally and magnificently much more than the sum of its parts. Easily Campion's best film, it deserves to be remembered as one of the best films ever about love.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&; amp;objectid=10625764

I couldn't have said this any better so I'll just leave the quote from this review.

"I'd never ask you to trust me. It's the cry of a guilty soul."

[–] TheWumberlog 15 years ago

How refreshing! A review that actually praises a movie. This Peter Calder actually gets it.

[–] Ti_Perihelion 14 years ago

This film is practically the antithesis of Austen. First, the dialogue is a joke - anyone who's read Austen knows that people in the 19th century did not go about insulting each other as brazenly and caustically as Fanny and Mr. Brown do in this film (though to be fair, it provided what little entertainment there was to be had). Second, Austen had a sense of humor and a sense of integrity. In any Austen novel, there are two paths a bratty heroine may take: she may grow, or she may become a trope. Emma ("Emma") is an example of the former; Lydia ("Pride and Prejudice"), the latter. But Fanny is a brat from start to finish, and yet we're expected to sympathize with her. How anyone is supposed to sympathize with a girl who throws tantrums any time she doesn't get her way is beyond me.

The best part of the film was when we (my husband and I) gave up listening to the tortured dialogue and ad-libbed our own instead. That, and the moment Keats finally died.

This wasn't a love story - it was an exercise in awkwardness and narcissism. If you want a love story, watch "What Dreams May Come."

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] TheWumberlog 14 years ago

I just pointed out out aspects of it that reminded me of Austen. I do agree about Fanny otherwise.

Actually, for a long time I disliked Emma because the heroine is so spoiled and pompous (although she is redeemed in the end, unlike Bright Star's Fanny), so there's another brat. Austen wrote them, too.

[–] mwlindsey2000 15 years ago

I just tried to watch it and found it painfully boring. "The Piano" is one of my all time favorite films. Even "In the Cut" was better than this.

[–] tigerbos 15 years ago

You are kidding me. In the Cut is the worst film in Jane's otherwise superb catalog. Bright Star is 1 million times better than In the Cut - easily one of the worst thrillers ever made and I love Jane Campion so I hate to say so. Bright Star is a much critically acclaimed film. Sorry you found it boring but In the Cut really WAS boring!

I think she's the saddest girl ever to hold a martini.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] tigerbos 15 years ago

You're saying that Bright Star was formulaic? Did you see the film at all? I didn't think it formulaic at all though you're certainly entitled to your opinion! I believe this film had a lot of soul in it. It was a beautiful film that I felt had something to say. Sorry if you felt it did not!

I think she's the saddest girl ever to hold a martini.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] tigerbos 15 years ago

First of all, this film was not funded by Hollywood. If you noticed the credits, it was funded with Australian, UK and French monies. Also, it was not supposed to be a biopic in any sort of sense. It was simply to be a love story between Fanny Brawne (from her point of view) and Keats. As far as feminism, if you've seen any of Jane's other 19th century films then you'd already know she puts a contemporary twist on her characters and to me, that makes her a unique voice in the cinema. From someone who's seen a lot of films from the male point of view, I would think that films from the female point of view are quite lacking. Anyone who's seen Campion's work would know this and if feminism in the cinema bothers you, I would suggest you look elsewhere to more male oriented films which as you must know, Hollywood has plenty of on much larger budgets but not necessarily arthouse in any shape, fashion or form.

I think she's the saddest girl ever to hold a martini.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] tigerbos 15 years ago

Ha, as if there isn't blatant 'maleness' in the majority of the films that are released today or are you not aware of that? The majority of films today are full of rampant male posturing yet you have a problem with a film that delves into femaleness? This is the problem with most films today - if it's not ALL ABOUT a man, it's not worth watching.

I think she's the saddest girl ever to hold a martini.

[–] aGuiltySoul 15 years ago

Have to side with Tigerbos here, Squeeth. I cannot see how you could call Bright Star formulaic. As for it being particular to Keats & Co., the validity of that opinion probably depends upon your knowledge of him and his life. But I will say that several people who have been life long devotees of Keats, knowing quite a bit about not only his poetry and his letters but also his biography, have written on this board to say that Bright Star was a film worthy of him...a little glimpse of an extraordinary talented human being within the context of our ordinary human existence.

"I'd never ask you to trust me. It's the cry of a guilty soul."

[–] Prom_Queen_Carrie 14 years ago

I found this the least-boring costume drama I'd seen in awhile. Hmm...different strokes I guess. Although this makes me want to finally see Marie Antoinette.

"I'm f'ing busy-or vice versa" -Dorothy Parker

[–] tigerbos 14 years ago

I thought Marie Antoinette was a bold and brave film...very different...and I loved the colours of it. If you see it, I'd like to know your opinion of it!

I think she's the saddest girl ever to hold a martini.

[–] Franco_Zed 13 years ago

"... this makes me want to finally see Marie Antoinette."

lol, ditto.

I grabbed Bright Star from my library without knowing anything about it because I was curious about Abbie Cornish. And coicidentally, I've been thinking about watching Marie Antoinette. So I was amused to see a negative reference to both together, which suggests that I might LIKE both.

Can you unscramble this movie title?
Finders with Beeftins

I'm posting a new game soon.

[–] john60644 14 years ago

i agree
f%$k you! pay me-paul cicero,GoodFellas

[–] vedrana_a 13 years ago

I agree completely. The movie was boring. I regret that I've downloaded it.

And the girl was obsessive about that guy. I thought she was crazy and not in love! And always making scene in front of her relatives. OMG, I felt emberrased only by watching it.

[–] guardian452 13 years ago

Agreed, on all counts. And I love period dramas.