But it's an effective way of getting the Bard back on people's minds. To a lesser extent the commercially successful Four Weddings and a Funeral did the same thing. After the film was released, copies of W.H. Auden's poetry began to sell out in bookshops. A special Four Weddings and a Funeral edition of his poetry was eventually published to meet the demand. In one short scene in the film, where actor John Hannah delivers the eulogy at his lover's funeral, he quotes Auden's evocative poem, Funeral Blues.
Poetry is undoubtably in the upper echelons of high brow' culture.
At least, not many people read poetry anymore. Most cinema-goers would not have been familiar with Auden's work. Perhaps a long-forgotten English lesson was recalled momentarily. But the power of film is such that a scene lasting only minutes can immediately introduce and indeed educate an audience about a form of literature previously inaccessible. In Love, in essence, is a celebration of words, language and the narrative form.