The Duchess (2008)

The Duchess (2008) is Saul Dibb's film adaptation of Amanda Foreman's biography of Georgina Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire. I have not read the novel (although it's now on my reading list), but I have the feeling the film glossed over many of the details, and perhaps (similar to the book from what I've heard) avoids a critical view of its subject in lieu of falling in love, as do so many of the story's characters. The film's sympathies lie squarely with Georgina, whose scandalous love life and political inclinations made her beloved and reviled.

Keira Knightly plays the titular role, and, I must admit, though I've never really been super-impressed with her before, I thought she carried the film well. Her features are very delicate, and she lets a multitude of emotions cascade across them. She's wonderfully expressive and holds the film's center well even dressed in wonderfully elaborate wigs and dresses. The film itself is beautifully opulent, choosing well-drawn, well-staged visual sequences over too much exposition. I love the carriage sequences, in which groups of characters (Georgina and her friend, Bess; Georgina's daughters; the Duke of Devonshire; the dogs) are framed, boxed as they were into their rightful place and appearance.

Charlotte Rampling, as Georgina's mother, is elegant and perfect as always, and Ralph Fiennes, as the Duke, add enough depth to a fairly craven and banal character to keep things surprising and interesting. Dominic Cooper, as Georgina's forbidden lover, and fellow political dreamer, is pretty dreamy himself. Saul Dibb, who also co-wrote, directs the story well, framing a static world of artifice in a beautifully kinetic way, not overly forced or inanimate. The cinematography by Gyula Pados is also well-light, capturing the beautifully excessive world of the London elite.