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Still in her teens when wed to the extremely rich and powerful Duke of
Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes), Georgina Spencer (Keira Knightley) soon
discovers that her husband really only wants one thing from her : a son
to carry on the family line.
When she turns out to be very good at providing daughters, his
attention eventually wanders to her best friend, the recent divorcee
Lady Bess Spencer (Hayley Atwell).
Unfortunately for Georgina, her attempts to take a lover of her own
(Dominic Cooper) are far less socially acceptable...
On the surface, this is yet another tale of true love denied by a
society bound by unfeeling rules and so on.
But
while Knightley (who
gives one of her better performances as a young woman trapped by her
situation) does get to wear a lot of stunning costumes (while wandering
through some amazing examples of 18th century architecture while
waiting to snog her lover) the real centre of interest in this film is
The Duke himself.
Rather than being a cartoon villain for our heroine to rail against, he
is shown as a man almost as trapped by his role as Georgina is in hers,
forced into situations he has little interest in and compelled to act
in a certain (usually cruel) way for appearances sake.
Fiennes all but makes him a tragic figure (not bad for a man who moves
his lover into the house he shares with his wife), his performance
makes The Duchess
a far more thoughtful and interesting film than your average costume
drama. DVD EXTRAS with Sean Lynch
Aside from the fairly flimsy "Uncut" aspect of the DVD release, the
extras on offer here aren't anything to write home about using a
feathered quill.
There are a bunch of featurette's and docos -
the most interesting being "Georgiana In Her Own Words" as well as a
look at the costumes of the film (which were nominated for an Oscar).
Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 60%
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