The Duchess Reviews

Keira Knightley and I have at least one thing in common, and that's a definite appreciation for the period film. In the past two years, the actress has gone from starring in the ravishingly masterful Atonement to the critically-panned Silk (which I didn't think was good per se, but I didn't hate it either, which is probably due in part to my positive bias towards this type of movie), and now she's carried out the title role in The Duchess, which isn't exactly a memorable period piece or a masterpiece of said genre, but it's still an enjoyable entry into it. As I said earlier this year in regard to The Other Boleyn Girl, if you like this type of movie, you'll be perfectly fine. To be clear, I don't just like any and all period movies I see (and there are some horrible ones out there), but it just happens to be a genre I gravitate to, which explains why I love the slow-moving Barry Lyndon but wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone.

If The Duchess aspired to being considered for any awards, it was surely in the costume and set design categories, as the film is stellar in those areas. Though conventional, the story manages to be consistently interesting, and Keira Knightley infuses an energy into her character that we haven't seen since her Lizzie in the 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice. As Georgiana, she doesn't miss a beat, and one suspects she may have had a better shot at an Oscar nomination (which she got for Pride & Prejudice) if this weren't such a lightweight, somewhat inconsequential film. Ralph Fiennes was honored with an unexpected Golden Globe nod in his supporting role as the Duke, but now that I've seen the film, it comes as no surprise because Fiennes (who has played the role of villain a couple of times) brings a twist to his performance, by never being the cardboard "bad guy" of the period piece (rude and close-minded), and instead displaying the anxiety that his character experiences, always letting us know that he, too, isn't exactly thrilled with the way things work out for neither himself nor for our heroine.

The flaw to be found in the plot of The Duchess is that the film rushes unnecessarily through several key points. Normally, I have the opposite criticism, but this is actually a case in which the movie could've afforded to be longer. It glosses over the development of the secret romance that unfolds between Georgiana and Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper), so the chemistry between the lovers isn't always palpable, and similarly, the blossoming of the friendship between Georgiana and Bess (Hayley Atwell) and the predictable turn of events that occurs once Bess starts sharing living quarters with her and her husband is also handled haphazardly. However, I did think that the captions at the end that explain what would occur over the course of the years following the film's climax were a nice touch and didn't suffer from the annoyingly imposing feeling we usually get from those in other films - one of the most interesting aspects of The Duchess is that even though it doesn't have a fully happy ending, there's still a fair amount of joy to be drawn from the closing, and that gives me more satisfaction than any other type of conclusion. Ultimately, I wouldn't refer to The Duchess as a regal motion picture, but it's still worthy of being enjoyed by its target audience.

I love you in the way I understand love.

I'm a huge fan of epic and periodic movies, but this one really amazed me. Let me make it clear that I am no fan of Kiera Knightley, but in this movie, I couldn't help but admire her acting prowess. She's up against Ralph Fiennes, of all people, one of Britain's most talented thespians, and she is able to keep up and complement his portrayal of the cold Duke of Devonshire. Every scene kept me riveted, and despite my absolute love for Fiennes, I couldn't help but despise his calculated and heartless nature, especially when he goes looking for ways to have a male heir. King Henry VIII would have been proud.
Georgiana (Knightley) was only sixteen when she was betrothed to the powerful Duke of Devonshire (Fiennes), mostly by the doings of her mother, who promised the duke that the women in their family have always done what was expected of them. And what was expected of Georgiana was to provide the duke with a male heir. During the first year of their marriage, Georgiana discovered that her husband had a daughter with one of the maids, and even gave birth to a child of her own. Unfortunately, the child she bore was not the son the Duke hoped; instead, he was given another daughter. Six years later, the infuriated Duke still hasn't had the son he yearns for; their last child was also a girl. During a visit to Bath he sees Elizabeth Forster (Hayley Atwell), and is intrigued, especially by the fact that she bore her husband 3 boys. Georgiana notices her husband talking to Mrs. Forster, and initially suspicious, she approaches Elizabeth. The two become friends, and when Georgiana learns that Elizabeth is running low on rent money (her husband has a mistress, so she moved out, but as a result, her husband kept their children from her) she manipulates her husband in letting Elizabeth stay with them at their house in Devonshire. He agrees, and for a while, Georgiana is happy.
Then the time comes when she comes home from a rally for the Wit Party, headed by her close friend and admirer, Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper), when she hears her husband and Elizabeth having sex in Elizabeth's room. One thing leads to another, and Elizabeth has become the duke's mistress, Georgiana gets raped by her husband after trying to make a deal (if he insists on keeping Elizabeth in their house, then she should also be free to pursue her love for Charles Grey), and a scandal erupts after the duke learns of Georgiana's affair with Charles Grey.
The entire story is fast-paced, but the dialogue allows audiences to keep up with the story. All the actors work in perfect harmony with each other; Fiennes brings to life the Duke of Devonshire, and one cannot help but hate him for all the misery he brings to his wife; Knightley is plays the perfect martyr who gets back at her husband, irregardless of the scandal that her love for Charles Grey may bring; and Charlotte Rampling is the manipulative mistress whose sole excuse for engaging in an affair with the duke is to see her children again. The movie perfectly mirrors the activities of the aristocrats at the time, from the men's yearning and obsession to have a male heir, to the politics and scramblings of other nobles to get into the "good graces" of the upper classes. All in all, a classic.

I knew I would like this film but I had no idea that I would love it as much as I did. There are many reasons for this. I really loved the story of this one because it was very powerful with a lot of raw emotion and also a lot of amazing qualities within it. It made me feel really quite upset for Georgina because she doesnt deserve anything she gets from her husband and her best friend. I find it an amazing and powerfulstory that is a true story but has a lot of moments in the film that do happen in real life even now. It was a real feel good film because of the beautiful sceneries within it and what beauty can be brought out in this world. There are more reasons why I love this film so much. I love period dramas like this and history films and this is one of my favourite history films.


Keira Knightleys performance is in my opinion the best performance of her career so far because I think she has portrayed the most powerful character yet in her young career. I am starting to love Keira in this period dramas with rich costumes and rich families just like she is in Atonement. I loved her performance in Atonement but loved her performance even more in The Duchess. I think that this performance from Keira can be close to a possible nominee for Best Actress Oscars. She is certainly on my list for that award. Keira is an actress that some people would expect the same from her. I do see the same with her in some films because she looks the same pretty much every time she is in a film but she portrays different characters in her young career. She has only disappointed me once and that was her performance as Domino Harvey in Domino. Please, Keira, bring us some more awesome period dramas. Ralph Fiennes performance is awesome aswell as the Duke Of Devonshire because he brings together once again a powerful character with a hard and cold heart. He is a really strict character in this one because he acts like Henry VIII. He is a character that expects a male heir even though it isnt him nor Georgina to decide, it was just fate. His abusive attitudes with women are really bad. It is bad that he still expects them to do as he says. I find Ralph Fiennes to be good at that as he always has been as a villain. If there was a film involving Henry VIII like The Other Boleyn Girl, I do think he would be amazing for that role. He is like a really controlling psycho. He leads Georgina into a no way out situation which causes problems for other characters within the film too.


I really liked Saul Dibbs direction in this film. It was a lot like the way a director like Joe Wright would direct it especially after he directed Pride And Prejudice and Atonement which previously starred Keira Knightley. Dibb hasnt done any films that are well known until this one. So, it sort of seemed like a start to him and it was an absolutely awesome start. There was a lot of different types of angles used in this film.


It is one of Keira Knightleys best films. I did love her in Atonement, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Bend It Like Beckham and King Arthur. One of Ralph Fiennes best films too but love him more in Schindlers List and Harry Potter. It is an underrated film so far but does have a really good chance at the Oscars 2009.

Knightley's performance lacked in depth as, frankly, the whole film did.
It did not have something to say at all. In this, it was reminiscent of
Kirsten Dunst's 'Marie Antoinette'. Both women, however, do their reputation as 'empresses of Fashion' full justice. The costumes were actually the most interesting thing about the film. Waiting for Knightley's next appearance to see what she might be wearing was quite enjoyable. The emotions (arising from the horrible things that happened to the duchess) were not believable and it was hard to find them touching. A woman who has her child taken away from her would have normally made me sob, if the actress was only able to carry off tragedy. Nevertheless, I had a good night out in cinema.

''You can't ask me to battle nature in my own heart.''

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

Keira Knightley: Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire

Ralph Fiennes: Duke of Devonshire

The Duchess(2008) is based on Amanda Foreman's biographic book and is brought to life on screen by Director Saul Dibb.
The story revolves around Georgina, who becomes the Duchess of Devonshire, married into a marriage of convenience and stature, laboured with the task of giving her husband the Duke a male heir.



Keira Knightley is in her element as Georgiana and you can see she revels in it. Keira is at home in her depiction of the intelligent, beautiful Georgiana. Every scene she is in has life, depth and prosperity. Emotion and struggle effortlessly conveyed in her eyes alone at times.
What struck me were her loveless marriage to Ralph Fiennes Duke and the many problems she faces.
Ralph Fiennes plays a villain character very well in films in the past but in The Duchess I wouldn't class him as good or bad in conclusion. His Duke character in here simply has problem expressing his emotions and at times he beautifully acts out how insensitive he can be to Georgiana. His many faults and later affair with Bess, a friend of Georgiana, causes problems and even shows us of the mistreatment of women in this period. To me it's a fascination in a few hundred years; females have been given the freedom and right to do the same as men, and rightly so.

Georgiana is a woman ahead of her time, comparable to great ladies like Elizabeth or Catherine The great in the form and way of strength, resolve and striking intelligence; showing she's not just a beautiful lady of Aristocracy but one who is mentally and physically perfect.
I must admit her romance and deep love for Dominic Cooper's Charles Grey struck me to how tragic and moving the whole story is. The boundaries of protocol and what society expects of you is amazingly captured, showing real life to be a hugely fascinating and inspiration, as well as rival to anything fictional or fantasy based can offer us.

Charles Grey and Georgiana by the River sharing a moment of intimacy struck volumes with me. A long lost feeling of a love not yet felt with her emotionless seeming husband. as Charles and Georgiana look into each others eyes you can see the love there.
As they kiss and give into loves embrace, it's mind-blowing and even my eyes were unable to control the prospect of crying slightly.
The love scenes were surprisingly really well executed in amazing subtle yet effective ways. Some scenes with Keira and Ralph were obviously awkward but they were intended to be. Keira's love scenes with Cooper are an effective contrast to the ones with Ralph, which are void of love, this importantly helps us to notice the huge difference there.

The Duchess is simply a period masterpiece that may be predicted as being sad but it's not. It's positively radiant in all aspects. Costumes, locations, acting and the music and Score is in a class of its own. The Duchess is beautiful storytelling and a period film dream to put it effectively, a vision of a woman's life miraculously portrayed on the dazzling big screen.

Ralph Fiennes provides a character who you love to hate, but redeems himself somewhat, Keira Knightley is the shining Goddess we all thought she would be.
Dominic Cooper gets another amazing film besides History Boys and Mamma Mia under his belt and has convinced me he's a rising star.
Ralph Fiennes making everyone laugh on various parts from the way he says things so unemotionally is perfect. I've never seen a Lady with her head on fire before in a Period film, but what made it even more memorable was the fact Ralph has to say ''Put out The Duchess's hair please!'', or something to that effect.
My favourite part near the end; where we actually see a glimpse of Ralph's Duke's emotion was so moving for me. Where he looks out the window and says something like, ''How wonderful to be that free.'' For the first time he actually connects to Keira, and we see he is as mush a prisoner as she is in this world of Aristocracy.

In conclusion The Duchess has humour, struggle, a moving score, beautiful cinematography, and an ending that concludes things in such a way; you will be moved, you will be happy and most importantly you will be satisfied and be left glowing from the experience.