The Duchess film review

certificate_12A

THE DUCHESS

Saul Dibb's excellent new film - based on Amanda Foreman's biography of Georgiana, the fifth Duchess of Devonshire - is the best period drama for some time. Infamy, scandal and illegitimacy abound but at its heart this is a tragic story of the oppression of a leading light of English high society in the 18th century.

Much has been made in the press of the similarities between the life of Georgiana and the late Princess of Wales and it is easy to see why. Like Diana, Georgiana was at the centre of fashion and popular culture, with her fame among the general public making her an early celebrity. There were also three (and sometimes more) people in her marriage to the Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes), who set up a menage-a-trois (and eventually married) Georgiana's best friend. It is also possible to trace a direct lineage between the two as both were members of the Spencer family.

Keira Knightley shines as the young girl plucked from minor aristocracy to marry and provide an heir to the bullish Duke. Things don't go to plan when she gives birth to two daughters and begins to realise that she is trapped in a loveless marriage to a cold, philandering husband. She seeks solace in her best friend, Lady Foster (Hayley Atwell, also excellent) only to be betrayed yet again.

Outside of her children, the only real happiness she has in her life is her attraction to the smouldering politician Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper) but even this is threatened by her husband's all-seeing eye. The build-up to a very sad set of circumstances is confidently handled by director Dibb.

Indeed it is hard to believe that this is the same man who made the 2005 inner city drama Bullet Boy, such is the contrast between the two. Lush settings make it an advertisement for the best Britain has to offer in terms of stately homes and Michael O'Connor's costume work will surely be rewarded come awards time. He may not be alone, as The Duchess stands a good chance of taking home some very big prizes at the end of the year.

Paul Hurley