I love you in the way I understand love.

The Duchess

Cinema is filled with costume dramas. Most of these are similar stories, changed in some minuscule way, enough to make it appear to be a new movie. But, truly, I love period pieces/costume dramas and I say you can't get enough of a good thing. A new film to add to this ever growing collection is The Duchess, the mostly true story of Georgiana Spencer, the Duchess of Devonshire, an aristocrat and one of our first celebrities. What sets this film apart from other costume dramas is it's realistic approach to showing audiences what it was really like to be a woman in the 18th century. This authenticity makes the film unique and gives it a level of credibility many costume dramas lack.

I am completely guilty of falling under the spell of costume dramas and period pieces, especially Jane Austen films. I always think how fun it would be to go to balls, wear those beautiful gowns, and ride in carriages around London. Many costume dramas romanticize life for women back then. Even in Pride and Prejudice "poor" Elizabeth Bennett gets to go to balls and socialize with the rich and powerful. Her father doesn't force her to marry a rich but unattractive suitor. She even marries a dashing, wealthy man. A fantasy world is created in these films and the key word is fantasy. Life for a woman in those days was anything like it is portrayed, even for wealthy women. They waited for commands from their parents and were at the mercy of their husbands. They lived in a world of suppression, double standards, and heartache. In Georgiana's world, her odious husband only wants her to produce a son. Meanwhile his mistress, Georgiana's best friend, lives with them, yet he forbids Georgiana to take a lover, to seek the same happiness her husband has. I was incredibly depressed after I saw this movie. I felt like parts of my cinematic history had been a lie; life in the 18th century wasn't romantic.

The casting for this film had to be perfect. An actress who could play a character that possessed grace, beauty, intelligence and resilience was a necessity, as well as an actor who could play a character who was hateful, but slightly sympathetic. The Duchess could not have been as effective without the brilliant work of Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes. Knightley brings strength and weakness to her role. She is a wounded bird that will never give up trying to fly. Knightley is great at wearing her emotions on her face. She doesn't need words to express herself. Knightley's pin thin frame adds vulnerability to her roles but her physicality consistently expresses her strength, no matter how awful her situation.

Ralph Fiennes is so good at playing loathsome characters. He is stiff and confident in his role as Georgiana's husband and a man of his times. He makes all the decisions, he is in control, he's a man. This is his reality and he won't have anyone change it. He believes all his decisions are logical and correct, while we see them as wrong and tragic. Fiennes avoids letting the Duke become a villainous caricature. He is simply a product of his raising and environment. It takes really strong acting to not let one's character fall into caricature.

This film is an achievement for costume dramas & period pieces of the 18th century. It took the bold step to tell it like it was and successfully showed us a way of life we all know exists but pretend we don't. Some would rather be blissfully ignorant and continue to think that that time period was as romantic as Emma makes it out to be.

Zachary Quinto in Star Trek

Now this is by no means the world's greatest performance but it was an achievement in my book. Until now, Quinto was most well known for playing one of TV's worst, most evil villains, Syler on Heroes. I was quite nervous for him to step into the role of Spock. I feared Quinto wouldn't be able to make me forget Syler existed. Much to my surprise, I was not watching Syler with pointy ears. Qunito brought enough originality to the beloved role to rope in new fans, but maintained enough of the character created by Leonard Nimoy to satisfy die hard viewers. Being able to make one's audience forget one of their most iconic roles doesn't exist is truly an accomplishment.

Netflix

Marathon Man-I. Love. Dustin. Hoffman.
Son of Rambow-Netflix kept recommending this to me.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?-Netflix Instant. One of my favorite professors cites this film as one that changed her life.