The Duchess (12A)

Starring: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Charlotte Rampling. 

The Duchess, the latest film in which Keira Knightley once again dons a corset, is a film which will appeal to much more than the period drama fan base it’s targeting. Set in the 18th century following the life of Georgiana the Duchess of Devonshire, it is much more than just a ‘feast for the eyes’ – it sets to break your heart as well.

The story, whilst telling the life of ‘G’, focuses upon the problems faced for a woman much more modern than her social constraints will allow for. It focuses upon the social restrictions of the time, of a woman fighting against convention and most of all of a trapped and lifeless marriage which slowly falls apart, tragedy after tragedy.

The film slowly begins with the introduction of its leading lady (a wonderful Keira Knightley) as a naïve and contented young aristocrat of 17. Whilst we watch her playing trouble free in her vast land with friends, scenes are juxtaposed in which we see her mother insistently pushing her young daughter onto an increasingly indifferent Duke of Devonshire (a perfect casting decision of Ralph Fiennes). After the assurance that Georgiana will of course birth an heir, the deal is done and the pair are married at the signing of some paperwork – simple as that with no input from Georgiana at all.

From here on the film slowly follows the path of tragedy. After the initial setting up of an awkward marriage and two people who very much have neither chemistry nor all that much interest in one another, we follow Georgiana’s despair at the discovery that her new husband has more interest in his dogs and his mistresses than his wife.

The marriage is consummated in a scene which is awkward and passionless and reveals to the Duke for the first time, that his wife is more than just hair. We watch as the Duke cuts away at G’s many layers with scissors, as he finds it unfathomable that women insist on their many decorative layers. Georgiana informs him that, ‘I guess it’s just our way of expressing ourselves. You men have so many ways, but we must settle with our clothes and our hair’. It is in this moment that we realise why throughout the film Georgiana’s clothes are so extravagant and her hair progressively higher – she has found the one niche in which to express her active mind… fashion.

After the brief introduction of the marriage set up to come (long billowing dining tables separating a silent couple), the film follows with relatively fast paced assuredness for a period drama. We follow Georgiana’s increasing fall into depression and misery, and for every inch she gains a mile is taken away from her. It is discovered that Georgiana’s one purpose as a wife is simply to produce an heir, nothing more and nothing less. At her failure to do produce only daughters, the Duke becomes ever more neglecting and emotionless towards her.

Georgiana endures despair after despair and public embarrassment such as having to take in her husband’s illegitimate child with a maid and raise her as her own child. As her husband becomes more neglecting, Georgiana finds consolation in indulging in politics by campaigning for the Whig party and becomes the ‘empress of fashion’. She comes alive in the adoration of the masses, for at home this love is nonexistent. Her public life is in contradiction to her increasingly falling apart personal life, and it is here that another of the films themes lies.

This is a film which will get feminists screaming at the screen for the hypocrisy and contradiction of one rule for men and a completely different one for women. Not one for the weak hearted, the film is packed full of highlights (or should I say low lights for Georgiana) that make it difficult to choose a favourite. We follow Georgiana as she finally gets something of her own – a friend in Bess Foster only to have it taken away in the most heart-wrenching manner. Her friend betrays her by bedding her husband, and she is then forced into resuming life as normal when she is informed that her husband’s mistress will not be leaving the house. The scene in which Georgiana confronts the duke here plays on the heart strings as her misery is perfectly played by a developing Keira Knightley.

When finally Georgiana finds some kind of release in her own affair with politician and future prime minister Charles Grey, she has it taken away from her as quickly as it has developed by the Duke’s intervention – she must choose between her children and her love. Despite all of the reasons Georgiana should hate Bess, the two once again become friends and one of Georgiana’s few contacts.

The acting is top notch throughout; both leads Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes are absolutely superb. Knightley’s Georgiana is full of emotion and from start to finish it is apparent that she fully embodies and throws herself into character – not once do we see Keira Knightley as Georgiana but always Georgiana on screen. She carries the film on her shoulders, like all the weight of her wigs, with apparent ease and absolute success - if ever there was a turning point in an actresses’ career this is Knightley’s.
Many critics have complained at the long lingering shots of her face, but it is in these shots as well as the drama filled heart break that she excels, for the subtlety of her acting is all in her eyes - a nuanced performance for an actress of such a young age. As well as a wonderful performance, in a very shallow level she lights up the screen and it is difficult to take your eyes off her. She is rarely off screen and is not worse off for it but much better. Hopefully this film will speak of wonderful things to come.

Ralph Fiennes hits a wonderful medium in playing the Duke. Whilst at the hands of less experiences actors the Duke could be condemned for his actions alone, he does after all commit the ultimate sin in marriage of not only affair after affair but marital rape, Fiennes managed to convey his character in a way which at often times makes one feel sorry for him. It is easy to cast him off as the villain in this whole outfit, but with Fiennes delivery of lines from wry wit to honest regret we can see that he, just as Georgiana, is a victim of the social conventions of the time. His scenes will have you laughing whilst crying. He, as he proclaims ‘does nothing that does not serve a purpose’ and as he assures his wife he ‘abhors this whole thing too’.

His character finds real passion and love in Bess, where with Georgiana he is neglecting and uninterested. With his own children he merely accepts them, with Bess’s sons he engages with them and adores them, but they are no heir. His eventual heir comes from a disturbingly horrific rape scene with his wife when he demands that she ‘stay here until you produce me an heir’.

Visually the film is stunning, but its plot is not lost in costumes and beautiful scenery - it is strong and fiery and full of drama at the increasingly difficult life that Georgiana is forced to endure. She remains a prisoner in her own home, forced to live alongside her husband and his mistress and all of her children as one dysfunctional family.

Most shockingly of all is one the simplest things that all of these dramas unfold within rooms where servants stand like statues, treated like nothing more than decoration whilst they awkwardly must face Georgiana’s life unravelling before them.

A must see for period drama fans, Keira & Ralph fans and most of all for fans of the tale of a corrupted innocent trapped by social conventions.