THE DUCHESS (M)

Director:
Saul Dibb

Starring:
Keira Knightley
Ralph Fiennes
Dominic Cooper
Hayley Atwell

Plot Summary:
A chronicle of the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life.

Genre:
Drama

Duration:
110 Minutes

Origin:
U.S.A.

Language:
English

Review highlights by Margaret Pomeranz

The fascinating true story of Georgiana Spencer, wife of the 5th Duke of Devonshire,comes sumptuously to life in THE DUCHESS. KEIRA KNIGHTLEY is really splendid as Georgiana, she captures the youthful enthusiasm of this remarkably talented woman who was a fashion icon of her time as well as an enthusiastic gambler and dabbler in literary and political matters.

And RALPH FIENNES is also terrific as the removed, selfish, but not entirely hateable Duke. The writer/director was Saul Dibb with only one previous film, Bullet Boy, to his credit.

He’s done a really good job of not letting the quite superb production design and impressive locations overwhelm the heart of the story, which is really about the sacrifices women of that time made for their children.

DAVID: It's such a beautiful film, this. I mean those wonderful sets and the interiors of those great, old houses. Aren't they great?
I think it's one of the best things she's (Kiera Knightley) done. And one of the things that fascinated me was that in so many scenes, that they're having these most intimate discussions and arguments and always there are a couple of servants just standing there not saying anything, not even noticed, just thinking their own thoughts but maybe going to run home and tell their wives about all this scandal that's going...

**** 4 STARS. DAVID STRATTON.
**** 4 STARS. MARGARET POMERANZ.

Additional Reviews:

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
"This is not one of those delightful movies based on a Jane Austen novel. It is about hard realists, constrained in a stifling system and using whatever weapons they can command."

Time Richard Schickel
"The players are uniformly good, but a special word must be said for Fiennes, whose portrayal of physical awkwardness and painful taciturnity never begs either for laughs or for sympathy."

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
"Even surrounded by all this quality work, Ralph Fiennes, who plays William Cavendish, the fifth duke of Devonshire, the most powerful man in England next to the king, walks off with the picture."

New York Magazine David Edelstein
"An uncommonly well-crafted historical feminist tearjerker--both anti-patriarchal and a monument to motherhood."

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
"Thoroughly populist and middlebrow, full of all the high wigs, thick powder, perfect diction, and straightforward dialogue that define bodice-ripping prestige pictures about silently suffering souls."

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
"This is scandal-mongering fun that also lays bare the deforming power of the male aristocracy."

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
"Fiennes speaks with his body what the script cannot formulate about what it's like to be a man apart. The actor creates particulars of time, space, class, and personality with one crook of a finger, one twist of a wrist. I call that nobility of craft; he's the actors' prince."

Rolling Stone Peter Travers
"It's Knightley who makes The Duchess a royal treat."

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
"Keira Knightley is a terrific choice to play the 18th century socialite."

Trailer: