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Knightley, Fiennes shine in ‘The Duchess’
Movie Review: The Duchess
By Patrick Rills
Special to 2theadvocate.com
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out of 4 stars.
For Keira Knightley, portraying British aristocracy has become as comfortable as an old T-shirt. The sophistication, elegance and conviction required to sell the part of the pampered yet emotionally confused damsel seems to come naturally to Knightley regardless of time period: from Antoine Fuqua’s “King Arthur” to Joe Wright’s “Pride and Prejudice” and “Atonement.” You could even say she’s becoming a queen herself, if only of a genre.
Knightley returns to form in Saul Dibb’s “The Duchess.” This time her character dips into more than just the troubled waters of torrid and forbidden romance, but also the turbulent seas of politics.
Set in the late 18th century, “The Duchess” is a true story occurring in the center of a changing world. Revolution against the divine right of kings has already begun in America and is brewing in France. Great Britain is coming to grips with its own need for more freedom, but the art of rhetoric and inspiring the masses is a concept lost upon the nobles who are used to issuing orders.
Thrust in the middle is Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire (Knightley), who feels as trapped in her opulent mansion as the commoners do in the throne’s oppressive grip. Though Georgiana is charming, well-informed and highly intelligent, she lives in a world dominated by men --meaning her husband, the duke (Ralph Fiennes), who would sooner look to his hunting dogs for an opinion than his wife.
Not only is Georgiana closed off mentally from society, she is also shut out emotionally from her marriage. Fiennes performs brilliantly as Georgiana’s selfish husband who has been rendered idiotic and emotionless by the generations of blue blood that course though his veins. His only interest in Georgiana is a male heir. Even his “courting” of her prior to their marriage seems more like shopping for a car by today’s standards (with Georgiana’s mother playing the role of the sleazy salesman).
“The Duchess” is a compelling story of a woman and a country trapped and helpless. All those men who were forced by their wives to see this film might have felt a parallel at first. However, this film separates itself from the average period romance film by adding a sense of present day relevance, while grounding it in a fascinating historic period.
Georgiana’s story is depressingly tragic for her, but abundantly entertaining for us. The second and third acts pick up significantly as the duke’s frustration with Georgiana’s inability to produce a son leads him to resentfully move in his mistress as a second wife. The turmoil and rejection then pushes Georgiana into the arms of up-and-coming politician Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper).
Despite superb acting and an engrossing story, “The Duchess” is kept from becoming a great movie by what seems to be a lack of effort from every other aspect of the film. Even though “The Duchess” is just short of two hours, the editing makes it seems much longer by lingering on the less intense scenes. Static camera angles also fail to draw the viewer into an unfamiliar world.
It seems that the director was trying not cloud the story with pointless cinematography and left the film to the actors to carry on their shoulders. It is a great strategy for the powerful scenes lasting ten minutes at a time, but fails to be completely captivating over the course of two hours.
Despite its few shortcomings, “The Duchess” is still an intriguing examination of our innate yearning for freedom. It sends a powerful message of standing against oppression and sheds light on an interesting historical figure.
