The Duchess - the movie

[smartarse]

Keira Knightley delivers a role of her life...
Ralph Fiennes' William was a heartless aaaaaaaa...s...s...!



Discuss...

 

[peachescream]

i really liked it! i though keira was so good, and throughout the movie heart-breakingly believable. ralph fiennes' character was despicable, but so superbly acted, and with such restraint. dominic cooper was a bit of a waste of space though, he's so great to look at, but his acting in this film was a bit under par...

the costumes were lovely as well, although not so much of a visual confection as in marie antoinette, but similar aesthetic. art direction was nice too, but how could it not be, with all those beautiful period interiors..

but i thought the editing was off, like it was so jilted at times, jumping around and not letting you anchor yourself in the time and place.. i was so confused about what was happening, and where they were going, and i've even read the foreman bio. i wonder what it was like for people who hadn't read the book?

 

[LetThemEatCake]

Looks like a rip-off of Marie Antoinette. And I hate Keira Knightly.

 

[Karen0193]

I wanna see this, i like the costumes and keira knigtley is my favourite actress!!
ralph finnes is a great actor

 

[smartarse]

Looks like a rip-off of Marie Antoinette. And I hate Keira Knightly.

speaking of Marie Antoinette, i believe Georgiana and her are said to be good friends.

i can't see it as a rip-off since it's based on a true story.
also, i believe it was noted to be the scandal of that time.

and i love Keira. in my opinion, she's by far the most talented of her generation.
B)

...

peachscream: i surpassed reading the autobiography and saw the movie first.

 

[smartarse]

OOOOh! how could i forget Charlotte Rampling?
She played Georgiana's mother.
luvs her!

 

[peachescream]

it wasn't a rip off of marie antoinette, completely different stories. ralph fiennes couldn't keep his hands of keira/the duchess (or any other woman) whereas the defining aspect of marie and louis' relationship was that they didn't consummate the marriage for 8 years.

smartarse, you should definitely read the bio if you liked the movie. it's very good, and not a boring history book, but interesting and a real picture of the period and not just georgiana.. and yes, charlotte rampling was so good! i love her too!

but did anyone else who saw it get frustrated by how they said georgiana? i always thought it was Georg-Ie-ahna not Georg-AY-na.

 

[smartarse]

How funny was it how William calls her "G" ... was that in the book? or did the screenwriter do a lil' bit of Gossip Girl talk in there?

 

[peachescream]

no lots of people call her 'G' in the book, her brother and sister especially (which were not in the film for some bizarre reason). That's why they called her daughter Georgiana, Little G. I can't ever remember him calling her that though, but yes... gossip girl much? LOL.

 

[IncurableLunatic]

i want to see this movie badly

 

[LUXXX]

I liked it but I thought it drug on a bit...Ralph and Keira were very good though and I do think Keira may get a nomination for this, not sure about Oscar but a Globe is a possibility.

As far as a biopic about a modern girl dealing with royalty and all the glamorous surroundings, I preferred Marie-Antoinette to this.

 

[Deleted member 82231]

How funny was it how William calls her "G" ... was that in the book? or did the screenwriter do a lil' bit of Gossip Girl talk in there?

It was bit of a trend in the 18th century. My mom has a friend she called G since I was very little, real name Gloria.

The costumes were amazing, but I really wish they focused on Georgiana's political and social powers- that is what made her famous. Far too much of the movie was about the live in affair situation with Bess.

 

[Style-Addict]

I have yet to see it... I have been terribly busy with school. As a reward to myself for making it through the next 2 stressful weeks (hopefully), I plan on going to the movies by myself on a slow afternoon and enjoy the film. (cant take my friends with me to this one- they talk to much and are not really into films)

 

[peachescream]

It was bit of a trend in the 18th century. My mom has a friend she called G since I was very little, real name Gloria.

The costumes were amazing, but I really wish they focused on Georgiana's political and social powers- that is what made her famous. Far too much of the movie was about the live in affair situation with Bess.[/QUOTE]

yeah i agree completely. like how they dismissed the later part of her life as a mineralogist with the mere subtitle 'georgiana continued to be influential until her death' (approx) and all her political activity as a political activitist,a nd there was so much, was just focussed on grey (which it wasn't)... i know they were trying to make all these huge parallels to diana and the prince of wales, but still....

 

[smartarse]

*The movie was about the scandal and how it came to be, which they did focused on.

But gosh, i'd love to see more of her political and social powers too but it would've been a 5 hour movie in parts!

however, i think they somewhat established that, though.

 

[smartarse]

SPOILER ALERT!

the question is in white. read below:
... i was just thinking did Gray ever knew he had a daughter with Georgiana?

 

[peachescream]

answer (spoilers);

yes he did. in fact, it was Grey who, in georgiana's later life, organised some covert meetings between eliza and georgiana. Eliza herself was never told of her parentage, although she worked it out because georgiana, who was styled as eliza's 'godmother', was never very subtle in her letters to eliza, letting slip her true feelings of motherhood towards her.