“The Duchess” is a royal beauty.
Sumptuously appointed, deftly acted by its leads Keira Knightley and especially Ralph Fiennes and based on a juicy true story, this historical drama about an ancestor of the late Princess Diana draws eerie similarities between the two fascinating Spencer women. The parallels between their lives lends the picture modern resonance — even if this kind of fussy, formal British talky won’t necessarily appeal to a broad multiplex audience.
Adapted from the book “Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire” by Amanda Foreman, the authentic costume epic is directed and co-written by Saul Dibb with co-scripters Jeffrey Hatcher and Anders Thomas Jensen.
Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1757-1806), was born a Spencer. Like her illustrious descendent about 200 years later, Georgiana (Knightley) is betrothed as a young virgin to an older man, one of the richest and highest-ranking nobles of her era. Georgiana, as it has been reported about Diana, was naïve enough to believe that her gruff new husband married her for love.
But the tradition-minded, calculating duke (Fiennes) — not unlike Prince Charles, if you believe the lore — marries her because he needs a blue-bloodied broodmare to produce a suitable heir to carry on his aristocratic line. The duke’s passions, like Charles’, would lie elsewhere.
Looking a lot more tempting than Camilla Parker-Bowles, Georgiana’s supposed best friend Bess Foster (Hayley Atwell) becomes the duke’s shadow wife — the lover he really wants in his bed if not to sire his sons. And the heroine has no choice but to accept that humiliation.
The duke’s coldness eventually morphs into the worst kind of brutality after she has trouble producing a boy. In response, Georgiana becomes a fashion trendsetter, beloved icon to the masses, deeply devoted mother and champion of great civic causes. And she takes a lover of her own. Just like you-know-who.
The ghost of Diana permeates this ripping tale, especially because Knightley shares the veddy, veddy English radiance and natural charisma of the People’s Princess. Knightley’s costumes, in muted but shimmery shades of beige and gray, as well as her gravity-defying hair sculptures here are beyond gorgeous. Plus, she nails one heartbreaking scene in particular that shows she’s more than just a clotheshorse.
But even with Charlotte Rampling and Dominic Cooper in support, it is Fiennes’ measured performance that you can’t shake. He makes the villain’s motives almost understandable even as you despise him.
Quick info
“The Duchess”
4 out of 5 Stars
Stars: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Charlotte Rampling, Dominic Cooper
Director: Saul Dibb
Rated: PG-13 for sexual content, brief nudity and thematic material
Running Time: 110 minutes
