Seasonal Affective Cinema is a quarterly film club screening movies that aesthetically and thematically reflect the changing of the seasons. For spring, we're immersing ourselves in the verdant pastures and delicate birdsong of Jane Campion's period romance, Bright Star.
Bright Star follows the unlikely relationship between the Romantic poet John Keats and his muse Fanny Brawne, chronicling their secret love affair from its blossoming beginnings to its bitter end. Campion frames the story through Fanny's eyes, employing her signature meditative pacing and subtly subversive perspective, whilst her vivid portrayal of 18th century Hampstead brings a sensuous whimsy to the measured screenplay.
Seasonal change moves in tandem with John and Fanny's relationship. Their love grows in the warmth of Spring and Summer, but the colder seasons cast a shadow across their romance. As the blissful scenes set amongst flower-filled meadows and fluttering butterflies draw to a close, we're reminded that Spring's euphoria is only ephemeral. But Bright Star encourages us to savour the joyful haze while we can.
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