John Keats: You dazzled me. There is nothing in the world so bright and delicate. You have absorbed me. I have a sensation at the present moment as if I was dissolving.

Well, it’s Valentine’s Day again. Some people love this day. Some people hate this day. Some people have no feelings. I’m not sure how I feel about Valentine’s Day, personally. I will say, I do love romance. In that respect, every day might as well be Valentine’s Day in my world. But I figured since this is the traditional day to celebrate it, I’d do some sort of post. Basically, what I did was take a long hard look at my DVD collection and pick out ten scenes that I find insanely romantic. This is not my “top ten” most romantic scenes or anything. This is in no way a complete and definitive list. It is simply ten scenes from ten films that I own that tug at my heartstrings.

I decided the best way to present these is in chronological order, since that’s how my DVDs are organized.

Now, Voyager, 1942 (dir. Irving Rapper) – Basically I sob from this moment on in this film. I just cannot contain my feelings. I’ve seen this film countless times and I still sob every. damn. time.

It’s A Wonderful Life, 1946 (dir. Frank Capra) – This scene is just pure passion personified.

Picnic, 1955 (dir. Joshua Logan) – This line only really makes sense if you’ve seen the whole film because it references something he said at the beginning of the film. But damn if it’s not one of the most romantic lines of all time. Oh Bill Holden, take me now.

Manhattan, 1979 (dir. Woody Allen) – At this point in the film Allen’s character is listing all the things that make life worth living – various jazz songs, Marlon Brando, some food he really loves – and then the last thing he lists is his ex-girlfriend’s face. He’s realized – possibly too late – that he really loved her.

The English Patient, 1996 (dir. Anthony Minghella) – As many of you know, this is my favorite film of all time. The whole movie is one giant ode to romance and longing and loss. But this scene right here just kills me. Kills me.

Inventing The Abbotts, 1997 (dir. Pat O’Connor) – Perhaps not the greatest movie of all time, I love this film – mostly for the relationship between the Joaquin Phoenix/Liv Tyler characters. This ending is just so beautiful and bittersweet.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2000 (dir. Ang Lee) – This is another scene that just makes me sob uncontrollably. Just look at Michelle Yeoh’s face.

Before Sunset, 2004 (dir. Richard Linklater) – A friend on Facebook yesterday said that Before Sunrise existed so that this film could be made. I agree. I love the first film, but there is just something so much greater about this second film. This ending. THIS ENDING.

Stranger Than Fiction, 2006 (dir. Marc Forster) – How can you not love this scene? She’s a baker. He brought her flours. FLOURS.

Bright Star, 2009 (dir. Jane Campion) – This movie reduces me to a pile of tears as large as the ocean. I believe I have seen it somewhere in the 25 to 30 times range now and I just, I just can’t handle it. There is so much passion and beauty and honest love in this film it amazes me constantly.

I was pretty happy with last year’s Holiday Gift Guide, so I thought I’d do it again this year. This year gifts range from $5 books to $250 dollar box sets. I’ve scoured Amazon for the best box sets, as well as added some films and books that have made my year pretty great. I think there’s a little something for everyone here. Treat yourself. Treat the movie lover in your life. Treat your favorite film blogger. Everything you need can be found in this handy, dandy guide. I upped this year’s list from 15 to 20 items because there were just so many great new Blu and box set releases this year!

1. Blade Runner 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition

I would be lying if I said I didn’t want someone to buy this for me, too. This is such a magnificent collection. And if you don’t want all the bells and whistles of the gift set, there’s just a Blu-ray available as well.

2. Magic Mike

Probably the most misunderstood/mis-advertised/overlooked film of 2012. I know people who avoided it because of the world it was set in – male stripping – and I know people who thought there was too much story, not enough dancing. Ridiculous. Presumably Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh’s penultimate film is one of the best films of the year. End of story. I’ve linked to four different formats for your viewing pleasure.

3. Harold and Maude from the Criterion Collection

Also available on DVD, this new transfer and all the special features are exactly what this perfect film deserves.

4. Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection

This limited edition set contains fifteen of the Master of Suspense’s most revered films in some really killer packaging.

5. Bond 50: The Complete 22 Films Collection

Everything from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace plus 130 hours of extra features, some never before seen.

6. Lawrence of Arabia (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition)

This transfer was made from the new restoration of the film (I got to see a peek of it earlier this year and it is flawless/I will hopefully be seeing it at the Castro Theatre in December!)

7. Casabalnca (70th Anniversary Limited Collector’s Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

I actually own this. I like that it comes with both Blu-ray and DVD. Also all of the memorabilia stuff is to die for. It’s a shame the restoration is a little too flawless (leave the film grain alone, guys!)

8. The Ultimate Buster Keaton Collection

The most expensive thing on this guide, clocking in at nearly $250!; it contains every Keaton film that Kino has ever released (which is MOST OF THEM).

9. Tarantino XX

A celebration of twenty years of cinema since Tarantino’s 1992 debut Reservoir Dogs, it contains every film he’s directed (save that guest spot on Sin City) plus True Romance (which he wrote; I wonder why it doesn’t include Natural Born Killers?)

10. Lili from the Warner Archive

I just wrote about this film, but I wanted to include something I thought you could give to children/was family friendly. I think this would be a great film to introduce your kid to the era.

11. Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection

This set includes remastered/restored versions of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Phantom of the Opera and Creature From the Black Lagoon.

12. The Most Dangerous Game / Gow the Headhunter from Flicker Alley

Another new release that I wrote about, this crystal clear transfer of The Most Dangerous Game is to die for.

13. Red Dust from the Warner Archive

Ever since the release of the Jean Harlow collection last year I had been waiting for this film to come out on DVD and this remastered version from the Warner Archive was definitely worth the wait.

14. Strangers on a Train

If you don’t want to spend big bucks on the Hitch box set, you can buy this delicious Blu of my second favorite of his films.

15. Laura

This DVD has been out for over a decade and I’ve still got my finger’s crossed for a remastered version (although I own this and it is still quite beautiful), I just had to include this gem of a film. After seeing it on the big screen three times in the last year I have decided Laura is a perfect film.

16. Wings

For the longest time Wings was one of the only Best Picture winners not to be available on DVD. This January that all changed. I own this and it is gorgeous. I’ve also seen this restoration on the big screen twice this year (once with live sound effects by Academy Award winner Ben Burtt, who supervised the restored sound design for this film (yes, it’s a silent, but in its original roadshow release it had live sound!). This is also available on DVD.

17. Lew Ayres: Hollywood’s Conscientious Objector

I’m not just posting this because I wrote the foreword; it’s also a great chronicle of one of my favorite actor‘s unbelievably courageous life.

18. L.A. Confidential screenplay by Brian Hegeland & Curtis Hanson

L.A. Confidential is also a perfect movie. I checked this screenplay out of the library last fall. Then I bought it at a bookstore. I have re-read it many times since then. It is probably my favorite screenplay I’ve ever read.

19. Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne

Bright Star is one of my ten favorite films ever and this book of poems illuminates so much of the process and inspiration Jane Campion took from Keats and Brawne to create such a moving portrait of their love.

20. Vanity Will Get You Somewhere: An Autobiography

Joseph Cotten may well be my favorite actor (sorry Lew!) and this candid autobiography is a must-read for fans. It’s a shame the cover is so ridiculously 80s.

Hopefully you’ll find something on here for yourself or someone on your Christmas shopping list. Remember, if you order from my shop it’s just like ordering from Amazon (when you check out it goes to the regular Amazon shopping cart area), I just get a little something for referring the product. It’ll be like a little gift to me from you!

In honor of director Jane Campion being the head of this year’s Cannes Film Festival jury and this film’s five-year anniversary (it premiered at Cannes on May 15th, 2009), I decided I would finally write about Bright Star. I love this movie so dearly that I know I won’t be able to cover everything that I love about it (I could write a whole book!), so instead I have picked out a few of my favorite moments from the film.

The first time I saw this film was early 2010 and I was pretty depressed and living in the back of my parents’ house and I rented it and watched it with my mother and it moved me so dearly I wanted to bawl right then and there, but I didn’t want to upset my mom, so I said I would take it back to the post office (about a five min drive). I did that. Then I drove up as far into the mountains as I could (my parents live in a high desert) and just sat in nature and cried for like twenty minutes. When I came back about an hour later, my mom was like, “Are you okay. You were gone for a long time.” And I was like, “I’m fine!” and then ran to my room and ordered the movie from Amazon right away. I subsequently watched it at least once a week for most of 2010 and since then have watched it at least fifty times. I sob every damn time.

I love how when Fanny (Abbie Cornish) first meets Keats (Ben Whishaw), he’s broody, and a little rude – but she is sassy right back – reminding him that her stitches (she makes all her own clothes) had more admirers than he and his friend Charles Brown have combined – and that she can make money from it. It’s a very forward conversation, and one I’m sure many women of that time would not have even dreamed to have. Keats then calls her a minxstress as she leaves. He uses this pet name throughout the film. It’s great introduction to their characters and to the intimate nature that their relationship is headed.

The next time they meet, he kids her again (this time about her dress, but in a very harmless, flirty way), then she reveals that she went out and bought his latest published poem. I love the honesty of this scene because both parties are a little awkward, but you can tell they are destined for more. Fanny says she didn’t understand her poem, but she could tell the beginning was perfect (she even memorized it!). Keats later reveals he has a sick brother and Fanny opens up about her father who was ill and died when she was a child. Their connection strengthens.

I’m skipping through quite a bit of the film to get to this moment, after Keats’s brother has died (Fanny stayed up all night embroidering a pillow slip for him!), she manages to invite him to stay with them for Christmas. There’s a great moment with him and her family, but after they leave  he ever so gently touches her hand. This is so erotic. Like, sooooo erotic. It’s one of the most erotic scenes I’ve ever seen! It’s such a tame action for modern times, but back then it was a very loaded thing to do and Campion manages to capture that tension beautifully.

I should write a bit more about Brown because Paul Schneider does an amazing job making you really hate this character for most of the movie and then towards the end you feel how much he truly loved Keats (even though you still sort of hate him). This scene comes after he’s majorly teased Fanny then sends her a joke Valentine while Keats was away. This causes strife for the would-be lovers. Keats and Fanny are both so hurt by Brown, but then Keats’s reaction isn’t the best and Fanny leaves them both in a field, frustrated and angry.

Things eventually mend between the two and Fanny and her family begin renting the other side of the house where Keats and Brown live. This is when we get one of the most visually stunning and emotionally tender scenes in the film. Now the two lovers are just separated by a wall, but it may as well be the entire world.

I love the part where Keats finally makes his feelings known to Fanny and the two share their first kiss – another insanely electric and erotic scene. But I also love this moment with Fanny sister Toots (Edie Martin). It’s such a sweet moment and also shows the great intimacy these two share.

I love the interaction between Keats and nature in this film. He’s always in a tree or under a tree and when he’s not – when’s the most sick – he’s least happy. If you’re familiar with Keats’s poems (and you should be!) you can see how the world in which he lived really inspired his work.

The scenes where Fanny is depressed because Keats has gone away with no letters and then when she first gets a letter from Keats are so perfectly done. First we get utter lovesick depression, then we get love-induced mania. It’s a pretty accurate depiction of first love and swelling emotions that come with.

Of course there is the famous butterfly scenes. So many butterflies! So beautifully shot. Here’s the quote that prompted Fanny to start keeping butterflies:

“I almost wish we were butterflies and liv’d but three summer days – three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.”

If you haven’t read the Fanny Brawne/John Keats letters, I highly suggest that you seek them out (there’s a really nice movie tie-in edition that was released by Penguin).

Apparently Ben Whishaw learned how to use quill and ink while researching for this role and all of the letters from Keats to Fanny in the film where handwritten by him. The script contains a lot of verbatim quotes from the Keats letters – which is why the Academy declared the film’s screenplay an Adapted Screenplay and not Original, which in 2009 was a much tighter category, thus she did not get a nomination. In fact, this film was only nominated for Costume Design (and the film it lost to really should not have beat it!). Ugh, I just love this sequence so much. It’s so gorgeous and so romantic and so hopeful.

The two lovers become very intimate (but not that intimate – which is brought up in a later scene so subtly that I didn’t realize that’s what they were talking about for the first few times I watched the film). Fanny is his muse at this point and most of what he writes is about her. He’s also becoming very ill with tuberculosis and shortly after this scene, you realize (if you don’t know your history very well), that this love story is going to have a tragic ending.

Keats’s friends get enough money together to send him to Italy because he won’t last another winter in England with his illness. The Brawnes throw him a beautiful little goodbye party, then Fanny and he have a moment alone together. This is where the whole subtle conversation about sex happens. When he says essentially he loves her too much to take from her something so precious (think of the times; if they did she would be a fallen woman and probably ruined financially forever). After the rebuke, they lay together and imagine what their life could be like when he comes back from Italy and they are married. It’s a bittersweet scene because you know this what they want so dearly and they would be so happy together, but the reality of his illness looms above their dreams, creating a cloud that they cannot imagine around. If you aren’t already crying at this point, I don’t think I want to know you.

HISTORY SPOILER. John Keats died in Italy and Brown brings word of it to the Brawnes. Fanny reacts to severely and so physically she cannot even breathe. Cornish really should have received an Oscar nomination for this performance, and she should have won for this scene alone. It’s so painful to watch. There’s so much love and loss, and the emotions are so raw. I’m tearing up just thinking about this scene.

The film ends with Brawne in morning – cutting off all her hair and donning all black – walking the moors where they used to walk reciting Bright Star – the poem Keats had written about her. Although not depicted in the film, in real life Brawne mourned the death of Keats for six years, then eventually married and had children. She kept his letters and one day before she died, she gave them to her children and told them they would be of value someday. I’m so glad she knew that, so we could enjoy this beautiful film and Campion could make such a heartfelt memorial to them and their love.

I’m very excited to be bringing Female Filmmaker Friday back! This time, however, it’s back in the form of a podcast. To launch my very first podcast I decided I must start with one of my favorite film directors: Jane Campion! I really love her work and it was so much fun to talk about her filmography with two of my favorite film lovers: Justine Smith and Kristen Sales! I hope you enjoying listening to this conversation as much as I did having it!

Check back in two weeks when Lady P from Flixwise and I discuss the work of Ida Lupino!