Release Date: September 19, 2008 (limited)
Rating: PG-13 (for sexual content, brief nudity and thematic material)
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 110 min
Director: Saul Dibb
Cast: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper, Charlotte Rampling
A metaphor common to period pieces is how opulent exteriors often mask sordid realities. It’s certainly a staple of
The Duchess, a film based on the real-life story of
Georgiana,
Duchess of Devonshire. The metaphor isn’t restricted to the film’s themes but expands, unfortunately, to its quality as well. Though handsomely staged with a fair amount of conviction, at its core
The Duchess is really nothing more than a bawdy soap opera.
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Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire—known as much for her style and fame as her political populism—was the eighteenth-century equivalent of Princess Diana in more ways than one (fitting, as Georgiana is a direct ancestor in Diana’s Spencer Family). Not only was she the center of Britain’s elite social circle, but she also had to suffer the cold, loveless (and arranged) marriage to an older man prone to infidelity. The Duke sees Georgiana solely as property, her only value to him being the male heir she is expected to provide.
Adding to this marital cruelty are multiple miscarriages and the undue guilt placed upon Georgiana (by both the Duke and her mother) for bearing two daughters rather than sons. Complicating matters even further is the Duke’s eventual live-in mistress who Georgiana must abide, even as she is forbidden to pursue her own desires with childhood love Charles Grey, a dashing bachelor who has become the youngest member of Parliament by championing Georgiana’s own political passions. It’s a tangled web of matrimonial triangles, unrequited loves and maternal sacrifice, and it all adds up to the Duchess of Devonshire being the original Desperate Housewife.
That comparison is intentional as The Duchess ultimately plays up the most base natures of female-centric melodrama. It provides situational complexity while avoiding internal or relational ones. People are portrayed in mostly broad “good” or “bad” strokes, and the only complications are those of “justified” moral compromises (as opposed to true integrity). Or to the extent a character is multifaceted, it’s done only to elicit “I love her/I hate her/No, I love her” mood swings on the part of the viewer. Director Saul Dibb merely indulges the base emotions of the audience rather than challenging our intellect with complex characters or the moral grays inherent in the tests Georgiana must face.