HISTORY IS ABOUT TO CHANGE.
In Belle Époque Paris, Gabrielle Colette (Keira Knightley) has fallen in love with an older man (Dominic West) who publishes novels; when they fall on hard times, he urges her to write. This portrait of a trail-blazing author and feminist in France targets a complex romance between an inexperienced girl and a chauvinist who took advantage of her… but also became her mentor and partner in crime as they challenged sexual boundaries and the idea of marriage in Paris at the time. West looks like he spent all of The Affair preparing for his role, but the true standout performance belongs to Knightley. The film has a sumptuous look, with a lovely music score.
2018-U.S.-Britain-Hungary. 111 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Elizabeth Karlsen, Pamela Koffler, Bruno Levy, Michel Litvak, Christine Vachon, Gary Michael Walters, Stephen Woolley. Directed by Wash Westmoreland. Screenplay: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland, Rebecca Lenkiewicz. Cinematography: Giles Nuttgens. Music: Thomas Adès. Cast: Keira Knightley (Gabrielle Colette), Dominic West (Henry Gauthier-Villars), Eleanor Tomlinson (Georgie Raoul-Duval), Aiysha Hart, Fiona Shaw, Denise Gough.
Trivia: Dedicated to Glatzer, the director’s husband, who died in 2015.
Last word: “With me and Richard it was very much about our whole day to day existence. We lived together, worked together, slept together and we very much enjoyed writing together. And were very gloves off; we were very honest with each other. We would work out all of our differences during the writing process so when we got to set to direct we would very much have a creative unity. And after Richard passed away I worked on my own for a while, and I was feeling the lack of him, very acutely.” (Westmoreland, Film Inquiry)
