The Dutiful Duchess

Finally I like Keira Knightley. Five films, endless poster campaigns and hundreds of magazine interviews later, I like her and it’s her latest role as the Duchess of Devonshire that has swung it.

She’s grown up and it shows. I found the film, contrary to many reviews, strong and thought provoking. Forget the Diana comparisons, although the three person marriage reference rings spookily true, the Duchess of Devonshire is a well brought up woman who only cheats on her husband once cheated and what’s more, she sticks the marriage out till death for the enduring love of her children.

I am thrilled that such entrapment doesn’t have to be the case for men or women today, but I think the restraint Knightley’s character shows in the face of such unhappiness and humiliation by her emotionally retarded husband, the Duke, Ralph Fiennes, is awe-inspiring. It reminded me of the quiet strength women had to have before they could openly emancipate themselves.

Knightley’s performance is convincing and the stuff that goose-pimples are made of. A few years ago watching her try to convey the emotion that comes with giving up a child or the most precious thing of all, oneself, wouldn’t have convinced me or provoked my sympathy, However in the Duchess, when Knightley falls, we fall the whole way with her.