Bright star, would I were stedfast 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 priestlike 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 stedfast, 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.
~ John Keats
The movie, by the same title, tells the story of John Keats during the time he wrote this poem- from the love that inspired it, until the time of his death. The story itself is a powerful one- if told in 14 lines, but in 2 hours, it looses its beauty. The BBC collaboration attempts to put together all the right elements: 18th century costumes, social restrictions on marriage, good-looking actors, passion, and romance. Yet, it does not develop any of them enough to keep us invested. The first half of the movie fails to create character that we fall in love with. We are never given any reason as to why these two have fallen in love- let alone a reason for us to fall in love with them. Without this key investment in the characters, we cannot feel for them when everything falls apart. Although the second half of the film is solid, I find myself laughing at the most devastating moment because I honestly did not care.
The most moving moment was a summary at the end... "John Keates died thinking he was a failure..." Now, he is considered one of the greatest romantic poets. Unfortunately, this probably would not even have been so touching if it were put into the movie. Perhaps John Keats was meant to remain within the confines of the written word.
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 priestlike 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 stedfast, 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.
~ John Keats
The movie, by the same title, tells the story of John Keats during the time he wrote this poem- from the love that inspired it, until the time of his death. The story itself is a powerful one- if told in 14 lines, but in 2 hours, it looses its beauty. The BBC collaboration attempts to put together all the right elements: 18th century costumes, social restrictions on marriage, good-looking actors, passion, and romance. Yet, it does not develop any of them enough to keep us invested. The first half of the movie fails to create character that we fall in love with. We are never given any reason as to why these two have fallen in love- let alone a reason for us to fall in love with them. Without this key investment in the characters, we cannot feel for them when everything falls apart. Although the second half of the film is solid, I find myself laughing at the most devastating moment because I honestly did not care.The most moving moment was a summary at the end... "John Keates died thinking he was a failure..." Now, he is considered one of the greatest romantic poets. Unfortunately, this probably would not even have been so touching if it were put into the movie. Perhaps John Keats was meant to remain within the confines of the written word.
No comments:
Post a Comment