We have already spoken glowingly of Jane Campion's new film Bright Star, but it bears repeating: this film might just be the best of the year. Despite its centuries-past setting there is something astonishingly timeless about this beautiful depiction of the affair between great poet John Keats and his neighbor Fanny Brawne; long story short, Miz Jane Campion has done it again. Last week we spoke with Ben Whishaw, the actor who plays Keats, but this week we are thrilled to present to you the thoughts of the director herself.Would you talk about the casting?
We’d auditioned Ben quite early on and we’d heard a lot about him, especially his Hamlet that had been done in the United Kingdom. We didn’t see it, but everyone was talking about it. There were a few people that were auditioned but fundamentally he was the best and he was very much Keats. It was pretty clear pretty quickly clear that Ben was very much like Keats, even though there were other people early on as well. Strange thing was when people said “You’ve gotta meet Ben Wishaw”… he’d been in this film called Perfume and we went to see it and were like: [grimaces] “Aughhhh!” [laughter] It was, uh, far away from our visualization of Keats! [laughter] And then his agent very nicely sent me some photos and he looked so dreamy. I mean, he can do the rock star thing, and… [laughter]
Yeah, well, the poets were very much like the rock stars in their day.
Absolutely. And I think the thing that’s most surprising and charming is the Ben’s got this real kindness in him. He’s very, very sweet and strong. We were going to get into trouble when we get into customs. There was a woman taking her job and telling me to stand behind the line very seriously. You know, like, a little power can do horrible things! [laughter] It was kind of horrible, actually. She was treating us all as if we were at a concentration camp or something. “Get up there!” [laughter] And he says— “I don’t like to be talked to like this. Can’t you speak more gently?” [laughter] He stands up for what he thinks is… what’s what.
What can you say about Abbie Cornish and her joining an amazing line of Campion women? How did you know she was Fanny?
Well, she did an amazing audition but I’d met her before that, and she is a person with a special quality that people talk about once they see it. It’s that rare thing where there’s a mystery to them, a strength, and it’s the element of surprise, you don’t know what they’re going to do. And Abbie apparently liked the script; she said she felt it was alive and it was breathing. What surprised me is that she could do the kind of sassy young Fanny, but she did it in a way where… she was just so pleased with herself! [laughter] And it wasn’t cheap or irritating, she just loved being young and alive and beautiful and gorgeous.
And very well dressed.
And then on the other side of it she had this heart, so it wasn’t like a hollow thing. She could really travel that distance and when the game-playing started to hurt them and they didn’t know where they were and Keats was like “I just can’t take it anymore, be sweet to me, be kind, I’m just too vulnerable,” she got it, you know. And I think the connection was pretty profound in anybody’s book and very loyal. And meeting different girls, it made me realize that something about Australian girls is they’re brought up in a much less submissive way than English girls and, sure, even Americans! [laughter]
What were you like as a teenager?
I was hiding.
From what?
From myself. I was trying to be submissive, I guess. I was trying to be what it was okay to be. To be liked, I guess. And it was not in a very inspiring place to be, but I think that’s why I love the work so much. It was a place I felt free to be my whole self. I had kind of made the mistake of creating an identity that wasn’t me as I was growing up, and I think being involved in the filmmaking world has liberated me and I’m less afraid because of it. More relaxed about being myself.
It’s interesting, because Fanny, when we see her first, is completely dressed to the teeth.
Yeah, well, she’s more liberated than me. [laughter]
But it seems as though as the film progresses Fanny’s relationship with Keats becomes more and more serious.
Yeah. I guess she’s under his influence after a while. We imagined, as he got iller, that she would probably tone down, but in actual fact she used to dress up for him. You know, say “Oh, I’ve got a new black dress on, come to the window and I’ll show it to you!” [laughter] But I do imagine that it became a little more sober; you just don’t necessarily want to concentrate on it.
Were those costumes based on reality?
Reality, yes.
Really? Those wild colors?
Yes, they wore incredibly wild colors in those days. And they’re almost all hand-made costumes, and that’s why we almost didn’t have them. [laughter] We have a quite brilliant costume designer called Janet Patterson who is a three time Oscar nominee and who did the costumes and the sets so that was really great and was collaborated fro the beginning and she works a lot from the character and from the story other than thinking “That’s a great costume, I’ll just put it on that person.” She really tries to work out their world and what they might have had and also work with fabrics and textures and the control of the colors and the look of the sets. But I think what I love about Janet as a designer is that she works for story, not just for look.
There’s a sense in the movie, even though it’s a period piece, despite the technical chasteness of their relationship it does feel very modern in the way that the characters interact with each other, it doesn’t have the stiffness that you find in most period pieces. Like the fight with the celery sticks.
[laughs] I read in one letter that Keats was talking about having a celery fight with Mrs. Duke in the corridor and I just decided to put it somewhere else. I thought it was so funny. But that’s what they were like, they were playful. And young, you know, and I think the mistaken thought when people make a period film is that people weren’t normally human. They weren’t real or crazy or they always wore completely whatever buttoned up clothes, and I’m absolutely sure in saying that’s not true; they were just like us: messy, wearing shirts three or four times, sloppy, lounging around on the floor, and to me one of the special moments is when Keats and Fanny have gotten rid of Brown… [laughter] And they’re sitting together on the couch and they’re just newly in love and having that time together and—just that relaxation and the intimacy. People want that connection. People don’t want just sex, they want affection. They want affection, a connection, I think. And sex. I’m sure they wanted sex. [laughter] I think what’s interesting about this film is that sex is off-topic. It’s just not going to be.
Were there any directions you gave to them?
Please don’t have sex. [laughter]
It’s just a completely different frame of mind; it’s hard to wrap your head around the sort of heaving-bosom chasteness. There’s so much restraint.
Well haven’t you ever felt that restraint yourself? [laughter] When you like someone and you’re not sure they like you… well, that probably hasn’t happened to you! [laughter] You know, when you’re not sure how you feel about them and I think that’s the tensest moments in a relationship.
It can be electric.
Exactly. Totally electric. I mean, a first kiss really does seal a relationship. It’s hard to go back from that. Anyway, we all know that, so.
The website is so much fun. What was the inspiration there?
My friend and assistant is sort of an unstoppable force of nature. [laughter] She’s a young director as well and we both discussed, looking at websites, how impersonal everything feels and how disgusted we feel that everything looks the same. And it’s sad to me! You know with handwriting you used to get an individual feel for different people and… So I think what we wanted to do was to create a website more after our own liking. And she took the job on with a lot of energy.
In terms of women, do you think there’s a different energy when there are more women working on a project?
I mean, there were men too of course; I think it was about 50-50, and perhaps there were more men on this one too.
Well, there are generally women doing the crafts and the hair and makeup and… but on a higher level it’s rarer and I think it does make a difference and so it’s nice to see that.
I think there’s more attention to feminine details… I think also it’s a kind of set that—actors say, you know, when you’re on a high-octane set it feels difficult try and express emotions and they wouldn’t want to be in that position whereas we can make a much… kinder set? A much softer set.
Bright Star is currently in theatres. Go see it.
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