One of the best period dramas in ages.

Rating: 9/10 (24 October 2008)

A brilliant ensemble highlights this period drama about one of history's most interesting members of royalty. Director Saul Dibb does an excellent job of creating this extensive, intricate universe and the cinematography and score are the best of the year, but it's really Keira Knightley's performance that drives the film to the level of greatness it has achieved. She is absolutely phenomenal. She's never had a performance with this much fury, both external and internal, and she nails the delicacies of this without a second of hesitation. She knows exactly when to bottle up the pain and express it through her eyes and when to let all of the pent-up aggression out without ever going over the top. A shatteringly emotional performance that remains impressive all the way to the end. I'm tempted to call it her best performance, but I can't manage to say it's better than her work in Pride & Prejudice. Still, it's a close number two in her career. Of course she's not the only member of the cast, and the rest of the ensemble all does a great job of supporting her. The most impressive of that supporting cast would be Ralph Fiennes, whose piercing eyes shook me to the core whenever he came on screen. Two perfect performances in the best period film about royalty in quite some time.