First of all, can I say that I love that it’s snowing on Digital Chumps today? It may be 80 degrees on the back porch of my family’s Florida home, but I still feel all wintry inside thanks to this special little effect.
Secondly, my college-aged brother just informed me that my review can be summarized easily in one thought, so I will save readers the time and share it with you: If you’re a dude, you won’t like it. If you like “old English stuff,” you might.
Now down to the nitty gritty (including some spoilers):
The Duchess shares the story of Georgiana (Kiera Knightley), a privileged daughter of nobility who is betrothed in a social coup to the ridiculously wealthy Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes). A match made in gentrified heaven, the pairing turns out to be loveless, as the Duke is significantly older and quickly dashes the young Duchess’ ideas of romance and happiness. The Duke is cold and makes no efforts to do anything with his wife except produce an heir, and as a teenager and then later in life, Georgiana seeks more.
The feminine sentiment of the day (late 18th century) is shared by Georgiana’s mother: “Equip yourself with patience, fortitude and resignation.” Georgiana, on the other hand, is a passionate, creative person who loves clothes, is a trendsetter, and is in many ways an early celebrity, complete with political clout, even in an era when women cannot vote.
Kiera Knightley has never looked better, even though she wears 3-foot-high wigs and the like. She was luminous in the period gowns, which are as detailed as works of art, and in a role that allowed her expressive face to speak volumes.
In the tradition of grandness of Austen novels, The Duchess showcases some of England’s grandest manors and parks, and makes a great watch for any Anglophile.
The pace of the movie is slow, even compared to what you’d expect from this type of film. The themes do reflect a more mature view of the world than a simplistic, straightforward one, so I expect the target audience to be much smaller than a classic story like Pride and Prejudice (which shares one of the film’s main locations).
As far as special features go, the main one is is The Making of the Duchess, a mini-documentary about the characters, actors, locations, and time period of the film. Georgiana In Her Own Words is a featurette with the woman who wrote the seminal book about Georgiana, reading the Duchess’ letters. For someone interested in the truth behind the screenplay, this really does help brings Georgiana to life.