The Duchess (*½)

Directed by: Saul Dibb
Starring: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Charlotte Rampling, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell
Seen: February 2nd 2009

*½ Out of ****

Yes, Keira Knightley once again dons the period apparel, that hideously massive dresses that women were forced to wear during the 18th century. This time she once again does a fine job at relaying her characters emotions, and what happens to her character (Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire) during the film is terrible. She is married to the Duke of Devonshire (Fiennes) at the tender age of 17, and her mother, Lady Spencer (Rampling), promises the Duke a male heir. They proceed to have two daughters, and Georgiana’s life is not made any easier because of this.

The film is phenomenally dreary, and not even two extremely intense sex/rape scenes make things even passably interesting or intriguing. The sex scenes, in fact, are distracting in this film – for a 110 minute film with only about 3 minutes of sex scenes, they are extremely visceral, and the entire film, at least on some level, revolves around these scenes. And however unpleasant they are, they give the viewer the only true emotion that can be experienced while watching this film – almost indifferent anger.

Yes, Georgiana did not have the best life, and yes, she took it much in the same vein as her eventual descendant, Diana, Princess of Wales; with a fantastic smile on her face and an always available and happy demeanour, but I found that I couldn’t get involved with Georgiana on any level since the film was so extremely tedious, things just never get off the ground, and we are reminded of her horrible circumstances again and again and again. The Duchess was a pain to watch, and I felt like I needed a respirator to complete it.