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The Duchess (2008)

Director: Saul Dibb

Time Out rating

Average user rating

60 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

If you’ve seen the posters for ‘The Duchess’, you’ll know that they recall the marital woes of another Spencer, Princess Diana, born two centuries after Georgiana (Keira Knightley), the young noble whose tempestuous marriage in 1774 to William, Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes) is the subject of this intelligent and beautifully crafted Gainsborough-inspired costume drama from British director Saul Dibb.

Thankfully, the tagline – ‘There were three people in her marriage’ – is as far as the filmmakers are willing to push the analogy, but you can see where they’re coming from: Georgiana is a young, beautiful bride who marries into one of the country’s richest families and suffers domestic misery, while blossoming into a fashion icon and friend of the chattering classes. William is older, colder, a piercer of dreams who’s more loving to his dog than his wife and who openly introduces a mistress (Hayley Atwell) into his household. The parallels are there to play with – at a stretch, you could even pitch Georgiana’s friendship with the playwright Sheridan (Aidan McArdle) against Diana’s later flirtation with the entertainment world – but, thankfully, Dibb and co-writers Jeffrey Hatcher and Anders Thomas Jensen play no such games.

One of the strengths of ‘The Duchess’ is its intimate, unashamed embrace of its story’s here-and-now. We’re not expected to impose twenty-first century ideals of marriage on Georgiana and William, rather to empathise with their situation while considering contemporary ideas of personal freedom. It’s a theme that’s reflected in the Whig element of the story: the couple are seen to be good friends of socialite politician Charles James Fox (a reliably conspiratorial Simon McBurney), who indulges Georgiana’s forthright views on liberty. Of course, this is still costume drama, with all its attendant wigs and frocks and stately camerawork, but Dibb pays as much, if not more, attention to the private stresses of the bedroom as he does to the public rituals of dinners and balls. He’s also helped enormously by a mature, restrained portrayal from Knightley, a masterclass in passive aggression from Fiennes and a performance of tender seduction from Atwell.

Author: Dave Calhoun 2008-09-02 11:07:06

Time Out London Issue 1985, 4-10 Sept

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User reviews of this film

Anne Woods said...

Posted on Oct 07 2008 21:39 Costumes were glorious,I was sad when the film ended as I wanted the story to go on, and on. I was half way through the book when I saw the film, so now I am enjoying the last part. Many thanks to all involved in the making of this memorable film.

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flo said...

Posted on Oct 06 2008 22:58 i am desperate to see this film. it looks fantastic. and after readin the reviews i know that i must go and watch it. appears to be an amazing period drama. brilliant

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Vicky said...

Posted on Oct 02 2008 21:26 A beautiful, haunting, deeply moving film. One not to be missed.

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Andrew said...

Posted on Oct 02 2008 20:45 Be warned if you go to Vue Islington, a black line appears halfway through the film and cuts through the screen for the rest of the movie. The manager explained that the film was scratched as it had been running for a week! And that's not mentioning two grey stains permanently there on screen 5. Anyhow, I got a refund. Maybe if enough of us ask for refunds they will start taking screen / film quality seriously.

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Gillian Reeves said...

Posted on Oct 02 2008 17:39 Ecellent film and would now very much like to read the book. Raph Fiennes was superb and thoroughly believable as were the rest of the cast. Costumes and scenery really made the film.

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Mr Farsi said...

Posted on Oct 02 2008 08:50 Some people would have read the book which was published to great acclaim a few years ago and clearly would have been disappointed with the film. That's always the case with book v film. However, this film was simply boring and did not do the subject matter any justice. The characters were (almost) all one-dimesnional and unconvincing. There was too much sex at the expense of much historical, cultural, sociological and political goings on. Of course there are always reasons for this not least the dumb and lucrative US market.

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Mr Doyle said...

Posted on Oct 01 2008 00:00 This film was shockingly bad, one of the worst I have seen in 2008. The film moves so quickly you never really get a real insight into the characters. Ralph Fiennes does a fine job actually, but Kiera Knightly is distinctly average. She hardly even fits into the clothing. Her voluptuous rival is a far more convincing woman of the period. Worse still is the treatment of the Duchess's lover, the politician. There is no substance to him at all, he is dull and uninteresting. He isn't even good looking. How am I meant to buy into the idea that she is in love with this man?
Worse still, the composer has been allowed to ruin any other potentially good moments with his ridiculous and untasteful score which led me to wonder if he/she was taking the piss. Well they got away with it, the cheese was allowed to stand.
I can't remember much else about the film. It wasn't memorable, but I do remember feeling miserable afterwards. There is nothing to enjoy, it's one depressing scenarrio after another. I'm not saying a film can't be sad. There are some beautiful films that depict such agonies. I just don't need to be whacked over the head repeatedly with one misery after another in such unrestrained fashion.
It's a real shame because this film could have been so much better. Unfortunately though, this is pure dribble. Shocking.

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Fergus said...

Posted on Sep 30 2008 22:16 What an incredible , fantastic, mind-blowing creation. Ten out of ten to everyone involved in this work of art. Amazing film. I'm thinking of going to see it tomorrow, if it's pissing with rain and I've got nothing better to do. I get in free on my orange phone, otherwise I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. Great stuff.

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Muthukumar said...

Posted on Sep 29 2008 13:41 Good artistic movie. So grand and tried to make the most real past(17th century). Costumes for the lady georgiana plot is adorable. nice to see the movie.

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vin said...

Posted on Sep 26 2008 14:17 Went to see this film with a lot of expectations and must say it was very boring in the second half and was desperate for the movie to end

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usman said...

Posted on Sep 26 2008 12:30 it is amusing to see a well made movie being analysed on the merits of keira alone by some sections of the critics as well as the audience,as if she alone was responsible for the movie or it's merits and flaws -this was definitely better than the rest of the current crop and i think it should be observed without keira being the object of discussion according to people's subjective liking of the poor little rich girl -i am sure she cannot please everyone as no one can - but she has been treated rather harshly by some lady critics and audience too-it's a real shame as she did portray a lady rather well -

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Pauline said...

Posted on Sep 25 2008 13:30 I went to see this film with mixed feeling but I was very pleasantly surprised. Keira Knightley was brilliant. You forgot she was acting and also Ralph Fiennes. In fact I came out with a lump in my throat. because the emotion was so deep. I recommend this film to all. It certainly was one of the best ones I have seen in a long time.

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abbie said...

Posted on Sep 25 2008 09:37 i came out depressed :/

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rachel said...

Posted on Sep 24 2008 13:01 i normally like these kind of films but this one didn't cut it for me. Kiera's acting was way ott, but rang true to her neurotic self. Prefered her in pirates of caribbean, The actress charlotte rampling was good though. mmm see it most definatly if its a rainy day and your bored.

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Ame said...

Posted on Sep 21 2008 10:37 saw the film last night - was bowled over . Thought Keira's performance outstanding - Fiennes as always gave a performance of such depth .... would watch it again

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