Scarecrow suggests | Like "Bright Star"? Try these literary romances

"Tom & Viv" (1994) tells the story of another poet's doomed romance; in this case it's T.S. Eliot. Willem Dafoe plays the writer, who while studying at Oxford meets a fiery woman named Vivienne (Miranda Richardson). They have a passionate, whirlwind courtship that ends with them eloping to escape her family's disapproval. Not long after they marry, he discovers Vivienne suffers from a mysterious hormonal imbalance that leaves her moody, lethargic and prone to bouts of drunkenness. As her erratic behavior increases, Eliot struggles between his connection to her and advancing his standing both as a writer and in society.

Philip Kaufman's "Henry & June" (1990) is an erotic exploration of the affair between two infamous authors. Anais Nin (Maria de Medeiros) is stuck in a rut and hungry for passion when she meets Henry Miller (Fred Ward) and his wife June (Uma Thurman). Nin's attraction to them both and the liberation it brings leads her off on a string of affairs and ends with her and Henry vying for June's affection.

"Impromptu" (1990) focuses its lens on another radical woman, Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, who is better know as George Sand, the French novelist who scandalized society by performing such unspeakable acts as publicly smoking tobacco and wearing pants. The story follows Sand (Judy Davis) and a group of friends, including Franz Liszt (Julian Sands) and Frederick Chopin (Hugh Grant) to the home of a sycophantic Duke and Duchess, where over the course of a summer they all play a jealous game of musical-bed chambers.

Two unconventional artists fall for each other in "Carrington" (1995), the story of the 17-year-long affair between painter Dora Carrington (Emma Thompson) and writer Lytton Strachey (Jonathan Pryce). The couple were both members of the Bloomsbury Group, a collection of writers, artists and other intellectuals in the early part of the 20th century, including E.M. Forster and Virginia Woolf. At the time they meet, Lytton is a professed homosexual who at first mistakes Dora for a man. He approaches her anyway and they end up being a great source of emotional comfort to each other. Though they sometimes dally with other members of their inner circle, the two remain forever linked.

"Becoming Jane" (2007) chronicles the forbidden romance between then-budding author Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway) and a somewhat rebellious lawyer named Thomas Lefroy (James McAvoy). In a scenario that sounds familiar to fans of Austen's work, Jane at first finds Tom to be highly annoying but after finding all the "suitable" suitors unsatisfactory, she falls for him. They plan to marry but Tom's family highly disapproves of her family's poverty and threatens to ruin him if the couple goes through with the wedding. A great deal of longing and drama unfolds as the devoted pair is forced to choose between their love and their future.

Austen is, of course, responsible for some of the definitive portraits of propriety in Victorian-era Britain. One of our favorite film adaptations is the BBC's 1995 miniseries of Austen's "Pride & Prejudice" starting Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennett and Colin Firth as the dashing Mr. Darcy. We're also fond of Ang Lee's "Sense & Sensibility" (1995) starring Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant and Kate Winslet.

We recommend all of Jane Campion's directorial works, especially her adaptation of Henry James' novel "Portrait of a Lady" (1996) starring Nicole Kidman and the highly acclaimed "The Piano" (1993), which won acting Oscars for Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin. Campion herself became only the second woman nominated for a Best Director Oscar and won for the Best Original Screenplay. Be sure to visit her section in our director's area.

Contributed by Scarecrow Video, 5030 Roosevelt Way N.E., Seattle; 206-524-8554 or www.scarecrow.com.