A sweeping period drama about Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, The Duchess"" is a bland, largely flavorless story that takes one of the more interesting women in British history and reduces her to her relationships.
From a purely technical standpoint, there's nothing bad to say about the filmmaking. The extravagant period costumes are dazzling with detail, the cinematography is gorgeous, the music is soaring and the acting is solid, but overall, the film leaves viewers with the feeling of biting into a cream puff and finding that someone forgot the custard filling.
Part of what hurts the film is the script. There are three screenwriters credited to the film (which may be the problem): Jeffrey Hatcher, Anders Thomas Jensen and Saul Dibb, the film's director. Their script takes the life story of a vibrant woman who was politically active and influential a century before the women's suffrage movement and dilutes it to little more than a romantic drama of love triangles and oppression.
Honestly, how many period dramas about the abuse and oppression of women in the 1700s do audiences need to see?
From a historical perspective, women's rights are important, but this isn't a documentary, it's a drama. Yes, Georgiana's husband was probably a controlling, unemotional man who did whatever he wanted while imprisoning her within their marriage. Yes, her choices as a woman during that time period were limited, but we already know those things. Writers should show audiences something different and, most importantly, something about the ways in which she rose above the oppression of the era, rather than the ways it constrained her.
""The Duchess"" only delves briefly into Georgiana's political activism. She was an important supporter of Whig politician and distant cousin Charles Fox and had an affair with future Prime Minister Charles Grey that nearly ended his political career. Audiences only see glimpses of this fierce noble and continue to wait for the film to highlight what an interesting person Georgiana was. Unfortunately, this never happens.
There are several conversations about Georgiana's marriage and how it was a bad match emotionally, but there is very little said of Georgiana's spunk and spirit. Mostly, audiences see her spirit broken repeatedly, until she finally gives in and accepts her fate and duty as a woman. When opportunities arise to explore other aspects of her character, they're briefly touched upon and then tossed aside.
""The Duchess"" could have given audiences an interesting portrait of a vibrant, intelligent woman who was well ahead of her time in her ideas and opinions. The real tragedy is that it never lets audiences gain an understanding of that woman, and in the end, ""The Duchess"" is yet another fluffy period drama with some nice costumes.
Grade: BC
