Con’s Score: 3.5 typewriter dings
Writers are a product of their environment, and their talent. The story of Gabrielle Sidonie Colette (Kiera Knightley) is a more complex one. In 1892, she was a simple country girl wooed by the infamous Willy Cartier (Dominic West) who had been already published when he married her. For him writing was easy. He had two ghost writers who took his ideas and did all the hard work. All he did was edit them. And when money got tight, he enlisted Gabby to write a book in a matter of weeks… which he hated. In desperation, and after a few notes to add some spice, Willy had a best seller. Yes, Willy got to put his name on the cover, and the character of Claudine became a feminine heroine. It‘s a well timed story in this age of #metoo.
Fame and fortune opened Colette’s eyes and desires, and Willy bought her a country house for her to write his next bestseller ‘Claudine comes to Paris’. A star of the novel is an American gold digger, who is happy to oblige them both. They turn it into a play her bob cut and school uniform ‘go viral’ and become as fashionable as tattoos. They have an open marriage, with Colette taking to Sido (Fiona Shaw) an androgynous female, who helps her break the shackles of Willy’s immense ego. She turns to pantomime as way to forge her own art.
It’s a fascinating tale of France’s most famous female writer. It ends around 1905, even though she continued to write. She won a Nobel prize for literature and Audrey Hepburn starred in the stage version of Gigi, which became a musical and won an Academy award. There’s enough here for a sequel.
Writers make for difficult subject matter. How do you portray a magician spinning their craft when the imagery of someone crouched over a typewriter, or penning something in ink, is pretty mundane and has been done a billion times? It’s as if all one has to do is lock themselves away for a night and a masterpiece is born.
Period films tend to look sumptuous and director Wash Westmoreland has made this look authentic. The clothes, the pretentiousness with which they’re worn are highlights. Kiera Knightley, is less so. She doesn’t seem to capture a shy French girl growing into a confident seductress very convincingly. She does enjoy herself and it is one of her better roles but she doesn’t sizzle in this story of sexual awakening. West, as Willy, is far more full of character and he does fill the screen. They both play their roles as English people would: with reserve and character and no real passion. This felt like it was set in London rather than Paris.
It’s the strength of the story that keeps this moving and period piece buffs will enjoy this. While I know more about the story of Colette, I feel like I need to read her novels to really get to know her. Better cue another shot of her writing…
Con Nats, TN On The Screen
