Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshireby Thomas Gainsborough
I finally saw the film Duchess, 2008, starring Keira Knightley, Ralph
Fiennes and Charlotte Rampling, a costume period film adaptation of
Amanda Foreman's biography, Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire.
It was just that; a costume piece. The costumes and sets were
stunningly lavish, with much attention given to the exquisite details.
Knightley did a good job in the role of Georgiana Spencer, ancestor
of the late Princess Diana. It is amazing how much Diana's life
mirrored that of her forebear's. Georgiana was also the wildly
popular "it girl" of her day, but unhappy in marriage and bullied by,
as Diana called them, "the men in the grey coats". Remember Diana
saying there were three people in her marriage and that it was a bit
crowded? There really were three in Georgiana's marriage to the
Duke of Devonshire.
Ralph Fiennes played the Duke's hateable character with subtle
apathy and aplomb. Still, I felt the film was lacking. I was hoping for
a little more biographical substance and a little less bedroom scene.
Don't get me wrong; as you know, I am a hopeless romantic, but the
film left me craving more historical details.
So, I read Foreman's excellently researched biography. She did an
outstanding job with all the historic and political details, but her
writing style is a tad on the dry side and I found myself trudging
though the book. As is true in most cases, I wish I had read the book
prior to seeing the movie. The eye candy of all the fabulous
costumes would have been more satisfying as the icing on the cake,
after the meaty historic facts. So, I recommend both, but do your
homework and take the time to read the book first!
i picked up that dvd the other day and put it down again !! guess i will be re-picking it up for the weekend
ReplyDeletelisa xx
Thanks for "trail blazing!"
ReplyDeleteAloha-
This is excellent advice I concur with, having done both in exactly that order, but a while apart.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed both book and movie -- good complements to one another. But how sad her final years were!
ReplyDeleteI think this looks delightful! I must check it out.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your review of the film and the book.
ReplyDeleteI sent off your book, btw. Mailed it on Tuesday...hope it arrives safely and soon!
i am very excited to read the book! the movie looks a bit cardboard.
ReplyDeleteI this the period piece with Johnny Depp, or with the guy who plays the faun in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, or is it the period piece based on that Jane Austen book - ooh K.K. see does pull off them period pieces well eh?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed the costumes and set designs. HBO's The Tudors has beautiful costumes also, but better acting, I think. I am obsessed with those time periods in England. I will have to check out this book, although I currently have three going... thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes, I was thinking this movie seemed to lack substance. Reading the book beforehand would be the right way to go, but finishing it would take me for yonks!!
ReplyDeleteWillow, leave it to Hollywood to get all the visional details just right. Then leave out anything historically important. Wouldn't want to bore the (over)paying audience with true fact now, would they?
ReplyDeleteWhere did she get THAT HAT! How many species dwell there?
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a movie we will be seeing at our home, we like costume dramas; but doesn't it seem like there is a new one out every week? But If it has Keira in it, i'm there. Pride and P. is one of our favorites, as is Sense & Sensabilities. have a good day
ReplyDeleteI'm not really a fan of KK and try to avoid films that she is in. RF however is charm personified - I've met him a few times and he is as lovely in real life as he is on celluloid.
ReplyDeleteNot usually my sort of thing, but I think you may have persuaded me.
ReplyDeleteHi Willow, I noticed on your previous topic you mentioned you still love childrens books, You might like to take a look at a blog site called "Starlight Starbright" about a just completed book with the most wonderful hand painted illustrations.
ReplyDeleteHello Willow,
ReplyDeleteWe watched this film on DVD while we were on our recent break. It was enjoyable and, yes, the costumes were fabulous but historically, it was lightweight. I'm afraid Hollywood often opts for spectacle over substance!
'Lover of Life' mentioned HBO's Tudors, which again may be visually rich but it is not historically accurate and I find that unforgivable because some viewers won't realise the facts have been manipulated. As 'subtorp77' says, they wouldn't want to bore us with the truth, would they!
Linda brought home the DVD for us to watch on the weekend.
ReplyDeleteDon't think I'll have a chance to read the book before then though.\
Gues I'll just have to eat the icing first and cake second.
Love, love, love the blog.
ReplyDeleteI see that you and I listen to the same music read the same books and are both Libra's.
Are you my long lost sister??
I just know that I have a sister and not JUST three brothers, lol.
Please drop by to pay me a visit when you get a moment or two.
Steady On
Reggie Girl
Thanks for the review. I'm interested in seeing this film because I'm a complete nut for any period film set in the 18th century and the Duchess of Devonshire was a direct contemporary of Anna "Nancy" Storace, the heroine of my novel. Not a huge fan of Knightly, but I can get over it long enough to watch the film.
ReplyDeleteI read the biography a few years ago and loved it. Stumbled upon it in a second hand bookshop.
ReplyDeletePursuading my friends to read it has been much easier since the movie was made.
I just rented this two weeks ago and felt the same, but the costumes and just transporting myself to that timeline, is sometimes all I need in a film...I take myself away to the beauty of the era in film and the sadness of a woman's lot in those trying times.
ReplyDeletes
I'm not familiar with the film or the book, but the concept of one life in a family echoing an ancestor's life is quite fascinating. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteThe real duchess looks like a strong willed bucksome wench.
ReplyDeleteNice post.
Funny, I just put this movie in my queue last night.
ReplyDeleteReally as women we are so lucky to live right now. This is the first time in history when we've had the opportunity to make choices.
ReplyDeleteA film I liked but was widely panned by critics, was the one about Marie Antoinette starring Kirstin Dunst. Did you see it?
I watched this movie in a hotel room a couple of weeks ago. I was fascinated by it because I didn't know anything about her. It makes me want to learn more so thanks for the book suggestion.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend.
Reya, I loved the Dunst film, purely for the location shots and the out of this world costume design!
ReplyDeleteHey Willow,
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the movie because Keira Knightly give me the pip. (how's that for an English expression?!)
I did know a little about the Duchess of Devonshire through a book I read a few years ago, called "The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief"
Worth was Conan Doyle's model for Professor Moriarty, (hence the book's title) He was one of the most notorious Victorian Era.
His biggest claim to fame was the theft of Thomas Gainsborough's portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire. He was obsessed with the painting. He kept it, instead of selling it and it is rumoured that he slept with the canvas under his matress.
I remember Madam being incommunicado for a whole summer weekend when she read this book...oh such wonderful memories...grinning. A wonderful review Willow, thank you.
ReplyDeleteClever Pup, that is a fascinating bit of info on Worth and the Gainsborough painting. If some of these pieces of artwork could talk!
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of hat to wear! I look forward to hearing what you think of the Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
ReplyDeleteThe prof. watched Duchess on the airplane home from Germany... his opinion mirrored yours. A beautiful portrayal of life and culture in that era but lacking in history and plot.
ReplyDeleteI would have bet that I read a biography of the Duchess by Antonia Fraser, but I was mistaken: the cover picture clearly is the one I remember.
ReplyDeleteI have not seen the film.
You know--I wondered about that movie, and I'm glad you cleared it up for me before I see it! I've not read that book, and I heard there were parallels with Di. Thanks for the good reviews, Willow!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big Kiera Knightley fan. I liked her light role in "Bend it Like Beckham", but really don't see her as a "substantial" actress.
ReplyDeleteAs for this film, I'm not really drawn to it, for some reason. When you can see Helen Mirren or Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth the First - somehow this pales by comparison. (Except in the costuming.)
Kat
ah, I never got around to seeing the film, so have appreciated your review.
ReplyDeleteI'll try and catch it
Cool, something for my netflix cue. I love historical eye candy, even if the movie isn't strong.
ReplyDeleteKat, I adore Helen Mirren as Elizabeth I!! I think she even outshines Cate Blanchett. It's one of those I own and watch again and again. Keira is not on my top list, either.
ReplyDeleteAll that hair and headgear must have been a chore to carry around. I can't imagine how long it must have taken to achieve the right look. Brings new meaning to "Waiting on a Woman." Pappy
ReplyDeleteI found Keira to be a robust heroine and my fav, Ralph Fiennes, the epitome of the overpriveleged male. The human roles they had to play then would choke me...now. Then? Being a duchess was still better than being a peasant.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen it yet, but I want to! Everything looks brilliant on the trailer.
ReplyDeleteOMG,
ReplyDeleteYou have almost 800 followers!
And I love your pic of the blue willow tea cup. Reminds me of the set my mother had cherished so long ago.
Always a pleasure to visit the Manor and snoop around!
cheers.
your netflix movie, The Diving Bell & the Butterfly is one of my favorite movies of all time -
ReplyDeleteWillow-
ReplyDeleteThank you for the recommendations.
I love period piece movies as well as biographies.
Sounds like a good plan ... . sometimes I'll even watch a historical movie with my laptop in hand to check for more background information to fill in the blanks.
ReplyDeleteWhat did we do without google???
Thanks for your lovely review ... .
Jjjj
Kiera's hair/hat make my head hurt ..
ReplyDeleteI was going to watch the movie tonight but will try for later after book. That is a nice way to describe the book as "icing on the cake." The two don't have to have to be stand-alone units, but can be considered to compliment each other.
ReplyDeleteWhen I watch films set in the 1700's I can't stop thinking about eyebrows. In Bath, where this film was shot, I was told that fashionable Georgian ladies often glued mouse skins on their foreheads to replace their eyebrows which fell off because of the lead and other toxins in their face paint. Must have looked terrific.
ReplyDeleteLove your additions, Willow!
ReplyDelete"my favorite olive green bulky handknit wool turtleneck"--Ahh, you sounds so comfy and cozy up there. Lovely.
...and, yes, its always good toe celebrate the small things, like one's hair! LOL!
I just noticed you have an insane number of followers--800!?! That's serious!
S Sponge, I know, it is crazy, isn't it? I've been watching it creep slowly up all week. There's an 800 celebration going on over here today!!
ReplyDeleteIt happens many times that you watch the film for the stunning display of period costumes or exquisite art direction alone. Maybe this is one of those films.
ReplyDeletei have that very book, i love him.
ReplyDeletei made the horrible mistake of lending it to a friend.
i have to ask and ask to get it back......
yuck !
i hate when that happens.
You convinced me definitely have to get the book and then see the movie..
ReplyDeleteThe movie as Hollywood goes is often, the sets and costumes are lavish and historically correct but lack substance, all eye candy-- I am a visual person and love details in design so would watch it simply for that reason alone.
Thanks for your commentary! Have a good week-end. Love the visuals and quotes on your blog! régal visuel pour l'oeil, tres chic!
Joanny
Knightley is such a doll.
ReplyDeleteI can see myself coming to the same conclusion as you, I was actually disappointed in the 2 hour recent Pride & Prejudice Knightley version because I had been spoiled by the BBC 6 hour version. And of course the book.
Thanks for the well written recommendation.
I want that hat. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteAmazing and delicate blog.. I enjoyed the book either!!
ReplyDeleteI watched the movie last week; twice. I bought the bio of her a few years ago after visiting Chatsworth. In the library there, they had a paperback copy of it! It's in my reading stack.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about her life and Diana's having parallels. Both were so sad. Glad I married for love!
I used to live in Bakewell and have visited Chatsworth on numerous occasions. I will see the film but, like you, will fine it lacking in biographical facts. Guess I'll have to plough through the book first!
ReplyDeleteCoincidence? I have had that book on my TBR pile for quite some time...maybe it's time to bump it up! I didn't realize that movie was based on the book and I will plan to see it after I read it:) Is the movie EVER as good as the book?
ReplyDeleteI love movies that have a historical element to them. I'm going to be looking for this one. Thanks, Willow.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED this movie! It was probably one of my favorites in the last year. :) It was sad, but very well done...
ReplyDeleteSarah
I agree about the film...It was certainly lacking but the costumes and lavish millinery are worth a view.....
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the film lacked. The costumes of course were amazing, but it seemed so Hollywood and I don't think they paid much attention to anything but what happens in the bedroom. Still haven't read the whole book... I start and stop because I see the movie play in my head and make myself confused.
ReplyDeleteOh and I never really made the connection between her and Diana. I knew they were related, but it is eerie how their lives were somewhat parallels in different times.