An aristocratic woman trapped in the social mores of her time..

Rating: 5/10 (26 June 2016)

Britons might be sorely divided in their desire to be in or out, but there is one topic on which they are forever united - their passion, or rather their obsession with their Royalty. Here's one small indicator. When we rented an apartment in Cambridge, one of the first tasks we had to undertake was to move the huge volume of our landlady's book collection to the garage. More than half of those garage full of books dealt with the Royal family!
Of course, the most obsessed over member of that family is undoubtedly Princess Diana. A film, based on the life of her great-great...aunt the Duchess of Devonshire which had an uncanny similarity with Lady D's own life, is bound to generate a lot of interest. Apparently, the trailer of this 2008 movie even used a couple of Lady D shots to ensure that.
However, for folks outside the orbit of that royal obsession, this is basically about the life of an aristocratic woman trapped in the social mores of her time, despite all the worldly privileges that came with her rank and status. Unfortunately, the movie could not rise above its curiosity value (even while giving us an excellent glimpse into the English aristocratic life in the eighteenth century) as the events, instead of flowing smoothly, had somewhat of a jerky feel. As if we are given a lesson in history, above all.
Keira Knightly, as expected, is a natural in the role of an old-world English Duchess. But Ralph Fiennes is totally wasted in the role of the Duke of Devonshire. Watching this, I wouldn't have believed him emerging with that commanding presence of M in Spectre a few years down the line.