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10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 JANUARY 2019 FILM FILM WORKING off a script by his late husband Richard Glatzer (also co-writer for their break- through film Still Alice), director Wash Westmoreland expertly marshals a story about a complex and vivacious figure in Colette, aided along by an inspired and clear-eyed performance from Keira Knightley and devoid of the excessive sentimentality and anachronistic straining for shal- low contemporary relevance one finds all too often in period dra- mas of its ilk. Gabrielle Colette (Knightley) is uprooted from her quiet rural family life and plunged straight into the heart of the vibrant Parisian publishing scene by her impresario husband Henry Gauthier-Villars, aka 'Willy' (Dominic West), whose epony- mous magazine is on the rise as an influential periodical among the city's turn-of-the-century bohemian set. But the magazine demands new voices as sales be- gin to flag, which leads Willy to suggest that Gabrielle begin writ- ing short stories under his name for publication. Accepting to undertake the task with halting steps at first, Gabrielle evolves from being a writer of staid prose sketches based on country life, to electrifying and risque tales doc- umenting the female experience. Her efforts eventually crystallise in the 'Claudine' novels – semi- autobiographical stories that become a true sensation in the scene that Willy is so desperate to court. But as he continues to take credit for Gabrielle's output, Willy fails to realise the simmer- ing resentment his wife begins to harbour for her forced anonym- ity, which kick-starts a journey of self-discovery, and a battle for her own agency in an unequal world. Sumptuously shot by cinema- tographer Giles Nuttgens (Hell or High Water) with masterful costume and production design on its side (courtesy of Andrea Flesch and Michael Carlin, re- spectively), Colette certainly makes a great first impression, but one that may perhaps dis- guise its hidden depths at the outset. Indeed, Westmoreland's film appears to have all the trap- pings of the traditional period drama, and can appeal on that level. But its strengths lie in how it does not rest on that genre's laurels, instead focusing on the specificity of its character's expe- rience to carry the story forward. Knightley is certainly on top form here, delivering a clear-eyed and disciplined performance of a complex woman who may be of rural origins but whose adapta- tion to the highly-charged, met- ropolitan world of the Parisian publishing scene involves her shedding any wide-eyed naivete pretty early on. Knightley adopts a no-bullshit attitude in her de- piction of Colette, rightly confi- dent in the knowledge that the character's integrity and consist- ency is enough to make her sym- pathetic without her having to soften the blow of her character's convictions. The reining in of overt sen- timentality in favour of a ma- ture portrayal of its characters and their historical and cultural mores goes down well in a film that could easily have been a placeholder for contemporary sloganeering. A film about a proto-feminist writer in turn-of- the-century Paris is certainly vul- nerable to shallow appropriation of 'woke' themes by corporate entities. Luckily, Westmoreland appears to have been allowed to craft a film that allows these con- cerns to speak for themselves, working as an artist to depict an- other – one whose gender-based struggles were very real, and whose contextual realities the film depicts with verve and grace. The depiction of 'Willy' is the most telling element here. Nei- ther a Byronic playboy-hero nor an irredeemable boor, Willy sits as something in between – a charmer who in the end fails to live up to his own hype, both as a husband and a businessman. Yet, Dominic West managed to make him loveable all the while, and our begrudging sympathy of him matches Colette's own: a woman who tolerates him until it becomes unsustainable, gritting her teeth and forging her own path ahead. While certainly challenged by the mores of her day, Colette is crucially never depicted as a vic- tim. Her rewards are hard-won, and entirely her own. Refresh- ingly, we are invited to praise Co- lette, not mourn her. Keira Knightley is on top form in this biopic about the taboo- smashing titular writer, set in turn-of-the- century Paris COLETTE JET SET COQUETTE COLD SWEAT FORGET ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The verdict Where most period dramas will tend to coddle the audience into an escapist mode while at the same time validating their contemporary viewpoints and never shaking them out of true, Wash Westmoreland's latest is refreshingly free of senti- mentality while still managing to hold on to some of the cos- metic pleasures of its erstwhile genre. Lush in its production values and certainly allowing for no small manner of 'period porn' in its costume and set de- sign, Colette nonetheless man- ages to operate at a notch above its peers, thanks to its nuanced array of characters and equally well-thought out, complex per- formances. Lush but unsentimental C O L E T T E ( 16 ) Teodor Reljic Keira Knightley is on top form as Gabrielle Colette Power couple: Dominic West and Knightley