COLETTE

Director: Wash Westmoreland

111, R

Screenwriter: Richard Glatzer, Westmoreland, and Rebecca Lenkiewicz.

Cast: Keira Knightley, Dominic West, Denise Gough, Fiona Shaw.

 

The transformation of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette from a shy but unconventional small town girl, born in 1873, into a free-thinking Parisian writer is the very best kind of feminist movie. It is intensely personal, political, and (let’s admit it) full of beautiful people dressed up in stunning costumes. Keira Knightley (Atonement, Never Let Me Go) gives what may be her best performance to date as the French icon and Nobel Prize-nominated author. Her affairs with women, and the stormy relationship with her husband (Dominic West of The Affair), who both encourages her to write and takes credit for her success, are presented with the complexity of real life.

“Knightley gives one of her best performances as a girl with spirit and talent, who becomes a woman with ferocity and a voice.” – Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com.