| The Duchess | 
 enlarge | Director: Saul Dibb
Actors: Ralph Fiennes, Simon Mcburney, Charlotte Rampling, John Shrapnel, Dominic Cooper
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
Buy New: $13.44
You Save: $16.54 (55%)
New (44) Used (7) Collectible (1) from $11.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 27
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 110
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: 353194
UPC: 097363531944
EAN: 0097363531944
ASIN: B001L57ZZG
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: December 27, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New. Factory Sealed! FREE upgrade to USPS First Class on all single disc items. All items guaranteed against defects. Most orders shipped within 24 hours.
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 12/26/2008 Run time: 109 minutes Rating: Pg13
Amazon.com
Swaddled in whalebone and wigs, Keira Knightley steps into the restricted world of the Duchess of Devonshire, a royal lady popular with her subjects but stuck in an unhappy marriage. If this situation recalls Princess Diana (a descendent of the Duchess's family), so much the better for the purposes of director Saul Dibb and company; this film is eager to draw parallels with the unfortunate Lady Di, even if she is never directly mentioned. Knightley's unsuspecting girl is married off to the Duke (Ralph Fiennes), a distracted jerk who craves male sons, and obviously has never thought of women as anything other than a means to achieve an heir. When the Duchess launches her procreative career with a couple of daughters, well, the Duke begins to get nervous--and partners outside the marriage become increasingly appealing. The Duchess serves up lavish portions of Brit-movie staples: costumes (which, in Knightley's case, are nothing short of spectacular), landscapes,! and gorgeous music (by Rachel Portman). If it falls short in some vague way, perhaps it's because the film is a mostly one-note affair, meaning exactly what it seems to mean at every moment. Charlotte Rampling appears too briefly as Knightley's mother, and Dominic Cooper and Hayley Atwell (from Brideshead Revisited), rising stars both, contribute attractive lures for the principals. They prove the old movie adage: there's a lot to be said for eye candy. --Robert Horton
Stills from The Duchess (Click for larger image)
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
 Knightly Should Win the Oscar for This One!!! January 8, 2009
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Let me first state that I was not a huge Kiera Knightly fan, mainly because I can literally hear the sound of teen girls around the world sticking their fingers down their throats to lose their dinners everytime her bony body is called "sexy" while lovely healthy curvy women like Kate Winslet are refered to as be "zaftig" or "Rubenesque", but Kiera has won me over with this performance. In fact, I would say that this is the most emotionally charged film of the previous year, and possibly the best performance (and yes, I have seen the over hyped "Dark Knight". I wasn't thrilled).
Knightly actually looks healthy, glowing, and absolutely radiant in the role of Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire whose social climbing mother marries her off to a much older, emotional cold Duke played by Ralph Fiennes (who is, as he is in all of his roles, absolutely brillant). Georgiana weds before the age of 18 to a man she barely knows and clearly does not love, but she tries to be a good wife and mother, even going as far as to raise the Duke's illegitimate daughter as her own. She becomes a major star in the social scene of the time, with her unique style, wit, and beauty, and seems content to live separate lives with the Duke though still residing under one roof. All of this changes when the Duke chooses her best and only friend as his mistress and forces Georgiana to live with her as well. Georgiana then turns to her childhood sweetheart and falls deeply in love for the first time in her life. Of course, society being what it was (and is), the Duke does not allow her to keep her lover and forces her to make a heartbreaking choice between the love of her life and her children. This story is made all the more poignant knowing that her descendant the Princess of Wales would have to face a similar choice in our modern era of supposed equality.
Some reviewers have said that the values and standards of the time will be seem alien to modern viewers. I greatly disagree. It has only in very recent years become the norm for women to choose their own mates based (hopefully) on love and not face becoming a complete outcaste if they divorce their husbands. In fact, in much of the Muslim world, arranged marriages are still the norm, and even in the West amongst certain religious groups (conservative Catholics being the main one), women are often trapped in loveless or even abusive marriages because divorce is such a taboo. We all know a woman who is "sticking it out" for the sake of her children, and I think that we all can relate to Georgiana's plight. This film will stir the depths of your soul and is literally a masterpiece. Brava Ms. Knightly!
 Worth your time January 6, 2009
Good historical piece with excellent performance from Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes. Georgiana's (Knightley) passion and the Duke's (Fiennes) detachment are superbly portrayed. It's a worthwhile chick flick.
A Man's World... January 4, 2009
2008's "The Duchess" is an exquisitely detailed 18th century period drama, with an excellent cast and first rate production values, but just misses as a movie. It insists on being understood within its own context, and 18th century social customs and laws are as remote as the Moon for most 21st century viewers.
As the story opens, Lady Spencer (the timeless Charlotte Rampling) is arranging the marriage of her young, eligible and naive daughter Georgiana (Keira Knightley) to the older and very wealthy Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes), who badly wants a male heir. The vivacious Georgiana becomes mistress of a great home, a fashion celebrity and a prominent supporter of her husband's politics.
However, when four pregnancies produce only two live girls, the Duke looks elsewhere. He takes Georgiana's female companion Mrs. Foster (Hayley Atwell) as his mistress, and moves her three male children into the house, joining the product of an earlier affair. Georgiana's efforts to carve out her own emotional life with the young lawyer Charles Gray (Dominic Cooper) draw the anger of the Duke, who offers her a fateful choice between her responsibilities as a Duchess and mother, and the man she has come to love.
The arrangement ultimately struck between Georgiana and the Duke is a happy ending only in a very qualified way, one that modern viewers may find unsatisfying. Ralph Fiennes's nuanced protrayal of the Duke, an emotionally constipated, thoughtlessly cruel man, as one who still vaguely senses his faults, just saves the marriage from being a scene of unrelieved brutality. Georgiana's spirited quest for her place in the world runs counter to the reality of a society in which women had no rights, leaving her with little room to maneuver. Kiera Knightley plays her role with an appropriately subtle mixture of naive hope and repressed anxiety. Viewers are encouraged to watch the "Making The Duchess" special feature for more insight into 18th century customs.
"The Duchess" is highly recommended to fans of period drama, who will this well-made and authentic portrayal of 18th century society.
All That Glitters... January 4, 2009
The Duchess is a lush and lovely portrait of the queen of late eighteenth century English society, Georgiana, daughter of Earl Spencer and wife of the Duke of Devonshire. She was a great beauty celebrated in paint by Reynolds and Gainsborough, a friend of the Whig political leader Charles Fox, the playwright/politician Sheridan and the witty and irascible lexicographer Dr. Johnson. She was also the lover of a future Prime Minister, Earl Grey, whose family cared for their illegitimate daughter.
The movie, based on a best-selling novel, focuses on Georgiana's troubled marriage that included a twenty-year menage a trois involving her best friend, Lady Elizabeth Foster whom the Duke married after Georgiana's death. Some will draw comparisons with Prince Charles, Diana (coincidentally a member of the same Spencer family) and Camilla Parker Bowles.
The acting is superb, especially Ralph Fiennes as the cold-hearted but oddly endearing Duke, Keira Knightley as the beautiful, bright, alcohol and gambling addicted Georgiana, Charlotte Rampling as Georgiana's aristocratic, sensible, worldly-wise but sympathetic mum and Dominic Cooper as the up-and-coming politico, Charles Grey.
The story is compelling, the direction well-paced, the period detail -- costumes, furnishings, manor-houses and gardens, art, music and other entertainment of the era -- authentic in its elegance and splendor. There is hardly a glimpse of the great mass of humanity unless clothed in servants' livery, cheering plays and political speeches, or running alongside the Duke's coach. There is, however, an ominous inkling of revolutionary change in far off America and nearby France.
There is also reference to an elusive concept of "freedom" with the implication that the Duke and Duchess are "prisoners" in a gilded cage. Perhaps, but one wonders if these people would have been happier had they been poor.
Fantastically Gripping, Compelling and Layered Costume Drama January 4, 2009
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Duchess is a superior slice of costume drama which manages to craft interesting, multi dimensional characters and an involving storyline from the well worn confines of the genre.
Keira Knightley plays a very similar role to the one she played in Pride and Prejudice, a feisty, modern woman trapped in a male dominated society. However, whereas Lizzie Bennett's heart and character inspires affection, the Duchess of Devonshire's fosters only reproach and punishment from her traditional and patriarchal husband. Her performance is a standout and demonstrates why she is so highly rated in the face of many disappointing roles in other films. She brings both strength and weakness to the character. Able to deliver withering put downs at her husband and others, whilst showing the pain of her loveless marriage etched into her face.
If Knightley is the lynchpin of the piece then it is Ralph Fiennes that elevates it above a crowded genre. Resisting the temptation to play his character as evil, instead he simply plays him as a man of his times. In Fiennes' hands the Duke feels no need to win any bouts of verbal jousting with his wife as he is secure in the knowledge that, as a husband, he is in complete control of the relationship. The Duke also clearly sees very little wrong in his treatment of his wife and acts, as he sees it, in a logic manner making the whole film feel more believable and, as a result, tragic.
In terms of the cast the only misstep is Dominic Cooper as Charles Grey, who lends the wide eyes of a political dreamer but doesn't have convincing chemistry with Knightley and plays one of the more one dimensional characters in the piece. However Hayley Atwell impresses by playing her character so well it is possible to describe her as scheming, and manipulative as well as sympathetic and loyal without it seeming a contradiction.
The film is deliberately paced so as to give characters and events time to breathe, encouraging the mood that the marriage is a car crash in slow motion, inextricably drawing all the characters further into the muddled mess of their relationships. Overall it's a fully recommended slice of real life costume drama that draws a multi layered drama full of compellingly deep characters from what could easily have been a one note story.
|
|
|
