Colette (2018, R)

I enjoy seeing LGBTQ period pieces, especially when they’re not tragic and even more so when they’re based on true stories.  As such, this movie gets the job done, a neat story about an interesting woman I’d known very little about.

Gabrielle, a French country girl in the late 1800s, moves to Paris with her new husband Willy, who manages a “factory “of ghostwriters cranking out stories, reviews, and other pieces of writing under his name.  At Willy’s urging, Gabrielle pens a novel for him based on her school days, gaining a new name for herself – Colette – along the way.  As her characters become the talk of Paris and Willy becomes the toast of the town, it gets more difficult for Colette to abide not getting credit for her work, particularly as she starts finding more independence in other areas of her life.

What a fascinating story.  I love seeing Colette come into her own, growing increasingly outspoken against being regarded as the “little wife.”  As she explores her gifts for storytelling, takes female lovers (sometimes with Willy’s eager stamp of approval,) and tries her hand in the music halls, two driving motivations emerge in her life.  First, she wants to be included.  Few things aggravate her more than the tedium of being a decorative feature in the house.  She wants to be a part of what’s happening, and she wants transparency, even if what she learns isn’t always pleasant; when she discovers Willy’s mistress early in the film (before she and Willy come to a more flexible understanding of their marriage,) she’s most angry that he’s been lying to her about it.  Secound, she wants to decide, do, and be in control of her own life.  There are scenes that remind me of Iron Jawed Angels in how casually-paternalistic Willy can be, at times treating Colette like a servant or a child instead of a wife, and that more than anything is what Colette resists.  It’s such a treat to see her becoming more and more comfortable moving through the world on her own terms.

The costumes are amazing.  All of Colette’s clothes, from simple country dresses to fancy partywear to jaunty skirt-and-blouse combos to stylish suits borrowed from a lover, reflect her personal journey in addition to looking super cool.

Keira Knightley is basically a period-piece queen at this point, and she does fine work in the title role, navigating the many changes Colette goes through as she reacts to the circumstances of her life.  Dominic West does a good job as Willy – I totally buy him as a city man who seemed sophisticated and alluring to an eager country girl but who reveals himself to also be kind of vulgar, petty, and basic.  Denise Gough also turns in a nice performance as Colette’s lover Missy, and I appreciate the presence of people of color throughout the film in supporting roles; in the immortal words of the Twelfth Doctor, “History’s a whitewash,” and it’s good to see a period piece that doesn’t follow that status quo.

Warnings

Sexual content, language, drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.