Colette is a well made period drama that excels thanks to some beautiful looking direction by Wash Westmoreland and Keira Knightley’s magnanimous performance, however it was missing emotion at its core.
Colette
(2018)
Genre(s): Drama
Universal | R – 112 min. – $34.98 | December 11, 2018
Date Published: 12/19/2018 | Author: The Movieman
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Universal Pictures Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.25/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: After marrying a successful Parisian writer known commonly as “Willy” (DOMINIC WEST), Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (KEIRA KNIGHTLEY) is transplanted from her childhood home in rural France to the intellectual and artistic splendor of Paris. Soon after, Willy convinces Colette to ghostwrite for him. She pens a semi-autobiographical novel about a witty and brazen country girl named Claudine, sparking a bestseller and a cultural sensation. After its success, Colette and Willy become the talk of Paris and their adventures inspire additional Claudine novels. Colette’s fight over creative ownership and gender roles drives her to overcome societal fashion and sexual expression.
Review: Keira Knightley is one of my favorite actors working today and while certainly not all of her movies are homeruns (see the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels) but with these period pieces, she is in her element. And here, she is brilliant. Although this is a beautiful film with award-worthy costume and production designs, and the acting rather solid, led way by Knightley and Dominic West, it was missing something. While I did admire some of the technical aspects, including its fine-looking cinematography from Giles Nuttgens (Hell or High Water), and the performances by the aforementioned Knightley and West, I really didn’t develop any sort of emotional connection. Colette as a story about the real life woman is quite interesting does make for a compelling drama and delves into her beginnings as a writer but beyond that, her eventual search for independence and self confidence following a sometimes good, but often tumultuous marriage to famous playwright Willy, a man who lived well beyond his means. Those aspects of the movie were interesting and even though I wasn’t entirely emotionally invested, the film also never diverted my attention and by the end, felt it was worth the time commitment, but little else.
The film was directed by Wash Westmoreland who, with his late husband Richard Glatzer who passed away in 2015, developed the script dating back to 2001. So while I wasn’t emotionally invested, I can at least tell Westmoreland for his part had a passion for this project, which likely expanded to the rest of the cast and crew, and it show on the screen quite well. So for that, I hold a tremendous amount of respect and at the end of the day, Colette is worth a rental. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5 |
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This release comes with a semi-glossy slip cover and inside a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Features include five Deleted Scenes (6:29; HD) and two featurettes, The Story Behind Colette (2:18; HD), Notes on a Scene (8:05) and a Costume Design Photo Gallery (3:30; HD). |
VIDEO – 4.25/5 |
| Colette comes to Blu-ray through Universal and is presented with a 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer. I tend to find period pieces to look great in high-def and this is no exception. As I mentioned in my review for Lizzie, which also takes place in the late 1800s, you’re not going to get vibrant colors outside of when Colette is tending to a garden with her mother and some nice greens during strolls through the forest. Detail is decent with good sharpness and blacks are stark while not appearing overly crushed. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| This disc comes with a standard DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which sounds more than adequate with the bulk of the film being filled with dialogue via the center channel and the fronts and rears are mostly utilized for the wonderful score (from Thomas Adès in his feature film debut) and some ambient noises. |
OVERALL – 3.5/5 |
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Overall, Colette is a well made period drama that excels thanks to some beautiful looking direction by Wash Westmoreland and Keira Knightley’s magnanimous performance, however it was missing some core emotion, though for the production and costumes designs were great and all in all, this is worthy of a rental. The Blu-ray release has good video and audio transfers but lackluster bonus material. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.