The Duchess
(Saul Dibb) 109 mins.
Much has been made of the similarities between the Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Cavendish, and her 20th-century descendant, Diana, Princess of Wales. Both were young when they were married off to older men of noble birth; both were under incredible pressure to produce a male heir; and both captured the hearts of the British people but failed miserably in charming their husbands.
The film does little to deny these parallels and plays out as a girl-power cri de coeur about a spirited woman (Keira Knightley) whose light was dimmed but not extinguished by a cruel husband (Ralph Fiennes). Georgiana’s mother (an icily exhausted Charlotte Rampling) dishes out several variations on an early piece of advice—“equip yourself with patience, fortitude and resignation”—throughout, urging her daughter to look beyond her mate’s indifference, her best friend’s betrayal, the loss of her true love, and the machinations of those who would use children as leverage.
A pretty film with a pretty star, The Duchess isn’t as thought provoking as it sets out to be. Rather, it’s a frothy confection that’s slightly less interesting when one has seen the real thing unravel so spectacularly on the world stage.—Stéphanie Verge
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