SYNOPSIS:
Set at the end of the eighteenth century, The Duchess is the story of the beautiful and, glamorous Georgiana Spencer, the most fascinating woman of the age. While her beauty and charisma made her name, her extravagant tastes and appetite for gambling and love made her infamous. Married young to the older, distant Duke of Devonshire, intimate of ministers and princes, Georgiana became a fashion icon, a doting mother, a shrewd political operator and darling of the common people. But at the core of her story is a desperate search for love.
MOVIE REVIEW:
You’ve got to admit it – in this superficial world we live in, looks are everything. Why else would investors agree to throw in lots of money to recreate the lush sets of 18th century England? Why else would there be so much attention given to the countless sets of costumes in this period drama? Why else would the filmmakers choose to cast the good looking Kiera Knightley in this Saul Dibb directed movie about the Duchess of Devonshire?
The story tells how 17 year old Georgiana Spencer got married to the Duke of Devonshire. And as all tragic love stories go, both soon realise that this is a loveless marriage and all the man wants is a son to carry on the heirloom. Poor girl, not only does she give birth to two daughters, she suffers several miscarriages as well. To make things even more melodramatic, the Duke has an affair with her best friend. How she proceeds from there is an inspiring tale to all women, making a life for herself and becoming active in politics, and would you believe it, becoming a fashion icon of her time.
With that plot in place, the 110 minute movie has every reason to splurge on lavish costumes, which are a treat to the eyes. Lovely period costumes grace every scene, and you can only imagine the time taken for every cast member to fit into those (probably) uncomfortable outfits. And that immense amount of effort earned costume designer Michael O’Connor (The Last King of Scotland, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day) an Oscar statuette for Best Achievement in Costume Design.
The visuals are not the only that catches your eye. The capable performances by Knightley (she seems really comfortable playing this role, probably due to her previous period role in Pride and Prejudice) and Ralph Fiennes (as the incorrigible Duke of Devonshire) are evident. Supporting cast members Charlotte Rampling (Deception) as the Duchess’ mother, Dominic Cooper (Mama Mia! The Movie) as the Duchess’ real love interest and Halyley Atwell (Brideshead Revisited) as the Duchess’ best friend turned love rival also tu in memorable performances.
And beyond all these, viewers are also supposed to realise how women are strong survivors in emotional and relationship catastrophes like this. The feminist spirit is nicely brought out by director Dibb in the movie, never at once being too preachy. If you are a female viewer, you’d be proud of your species. If you are a male viewer, you’d wish that you can fall in love with someone like the Duchess of Devonshire – only if she looks like Knightley.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains a generous (but hastily edited) 41 minutes of Interviews with leading actress Knightley (dressed in her period costume) talking about her role, leading actor Fiennes (not dressed in his period costume) talking about the story, Rampling (not dressed in her period costume) talking about the Duchess, Cooper (dressed in his period costume) talkinng about the director’s approach, as well as other supporting cast and crew talking about different aspects of the film.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The disc’s visual transfer complements the lavish and lush costumes everyone is wearing, and the movie is presented in its original English audio soundtrack.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
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