Colette
- Director: Wash Westmoreland
- Writer: Richard Glatzer; Rebecca Lenkiewicz; Wash Westmoreland
- Producer: Dominic Buchanan; Elizabeth Karlsen; Mary Burke
CGiii Comment
Apart from one minor complaint...this a beautifully produced, directed and performed film!
The complaint is...the [obvious] transference [of - especially - pronouns] into today's liberalism [i.e. modernity] into those long gone [wrought-iron] days...of puritanism...counter-balanced by a(n) hedonism for those who could afford it...or, is our complaint a legitimate one? This is an interpretation of those times...pinches of salt are required. And, let's face it, food without salt is tasteless.
Colette is tasty! And, delicious...
We've all heard of those care-free days when eyebrows were seldom raised at some [very] eyebrow-raising 'situations' - even by today's standards...an on-stage lesbian/trans Cleopatra-infused production may raise eyebrows far and beyond the deepest of widow's peaks! But...Wash Westmoreland has embraced theaticality and thrown it into his film...without reserve. Good decision.
Dominic West plays it large...aided by a script of Wildean wit. It is his film...that is, until Colette finds her feet and voice. Keira Knightley does coy and coquettish...as we all expect...well. But, Keira Knightley is no longer a girl...she is many a man's [and, woman's] fantasy...and doesn't she live up to and relish in the part! A seductress with little patience for [sexual] apathy...and, an unquenchable thirst for passion.
Colette's story is intriguing...and, worthy of further exploration...she challenged the patriarchy, she lived openly with a tans*man. She was a woman of our times! Our complaint...dismiss it!
Without pioneers, humanity would never move forward. Colette was a pioneer. This film does her the justice she deserves.
Thank you Mr Westmoreland. Thank you Mr Glatzer.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Born in 1873 as Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, when she was 20 Colette married libertine Henry Gauthier-Villars, better known by his nom-de-plume, Willy, who encouraged her to start writing. Together they came up with the semi-autobiographical Claudine novels, which shocked many with their depiction of lesbian desire. Willy also introduced Colette to the intellectual circles of Paris and encouraged her to have same sex affairs (he also didn’t had more this his fair share of lovers).
The marriage didn’t last long and when it ended Colette was thrown into poverty (largely because Willy owned the copyright to her books), but she continued to write, continually using her own life as inspiration. While initially seen as a minor writer whose main attraction was titilation, her reputation grew over her lifetime, especially during the 1920s and 30s, which saw her produce much of her best work. When she died she became the first French female writer to be given a state funeral.
Cast & Characters
Keira Knightley as Colette;
Dominic West as Willy;
Eleanor Tomlinson as Georgie Raoul-Duval;
Fiona Shaw as Sido;
Aiysha Hart as Polaire;
Robert Pugh as Jules;
Denise Gough as Missy;
Caroline Boulton as Flossy;
Ray Panthaki as Veber;
Shannon Tarbet as Meg;
Arabella Weir as Mme De Caillavet;
Karen Gagnon as Claudine;
Janine Harouni as Jeanne De Caillavet;
Rebecca Root as Rachilde;
Attila C. Arpa as Heckler