A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever (or not)

[Yet again] I won some tickets to the preview of Jane Campion's new film Bright Star (thank you http://www.kidspot.com.au/). So yesterday afternoon, after Marianna's ballet concert, off I went with my mum to WBJ.

This movie polarised me somewhat. On the one hand it is a stunningly beautiful movie. Every scene, every frame is mesmorising in its opulance and gorgeous detail; the light and shadows, the textures of fabrics. The film is beautifully cast and the actors all do a wonderful job, though I did find Abbie Cornish a tiny bit stone faced at times.
On the other hand it was as slow as a week of wet Sundays . The action moving along like a snail on valium. It was also a good 20 minutes too long in general. Another point on the negative side of the ledger for me was that the actor playing Keats had a remarkable resemblance to my ex-husband, which was unnerving at times.

Maybe I find it hard to relax into a slow paced movie these days, maybe it was because I went to see it after Marianna's ballet concert (and had already been sitting down for numerous hours). Whatever the reason I did get restless, like a few others in the cinema around me, including the young man who kept falling asleep next to me.

Anyway, I could probably sum up by saying I loved it and it annoyed me all at the same time. Watching it was like a plate of Nouvelle Cuisine - all beauty but little substance. Maybe I'm just a cynical old cow that has trouble with these old fashioned, pure love stories. As Tina Turner put it all those years ago what's love got to do with it?...