Campion 'fascinated by Keats's chastity'

Jane Campion has claimed that the build-up of tension rather than its release is the key to the "haunting strength" of romance.

The director of John Keats biopic Bright Star told W that she was attracted to the purity of the poet's relationship with seamstress Fanny Brawne.

Campion said: "I found it fascinating that it was so chaste. That's what gives it a lot of haunting strength and what makes it unique.

"I think the whole tension about romanticism is the way it builds and builds, and the moment it's consummated, the tension's over. And in this story the relationship never was consummated."

She added: "How sexy would it be to be the intimate of a poet like Keats, who wasn't just seducing you but telling you the truth as he knew it? He'd say, 'I don't know how I feel about women. I'm confused by my feelings'.

Sometimes he'd merely scribble notes that said, 'Don't forget to show yourself in the garden. I need to see you' or 'Give me something to put under my pillow tonight'. It's the kind of first love that everybody dreams of but very few of us actually have."