Colette [Blu-ray]

When I saw that this movie was made available thanks to Amazon Prime, it reminded me that I had only read one book by Colette, “La Retraite Sentimentale,” which I had reviewed on Amazon in 2012. In edition reshuffles, the review “went missing,” so I reposted it a few days ago. The review is entitled “In the end, it is the circle of cats that provide the real comfort…” At the beginning of this movie, the camera lingers on the cat on Colette’s bed, and I was immediately drawn in.Gabrielle Sidonie Colette was born in 1873 in Saint Sauveur-en-Puisaye, in Bourgogne, a place that is one more example of “la France profonde,” the expression used to convey a place that is “the heart of France.” She would die in 1954 and is interred in Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris. This movie covers the period of her life in La Belle Epoque, the period before the First World War, and thus depicts her life as a young girl in Bourgogne, and her marriage to her poor choice of a husband Henry Gauthier-Villars, who is 15 years older than she, one of Paris’ libertines, and famous in the art circles, writing under the pen name “Willy.”A simple country girl comes to the big city. A classic theme. The movie depicts a gathering at a literary salon (yes, that is what people did back in the pre-electronic age, as Marcel Proust so voluminously described). The young Colette demonstrates her fundamental feistiness when she is being “shredded” for her country origins by one of the pompous “gratin” of society. Colette’s retort to the statement that “the wild days are done”: “au contraire, they have just begun.” As the movie would go on to depict - have they ever!But first, literary acclaim, and the big francs began to role in, all due to her country origins. She would write the “Claudine” series of books, which were all published under Willy’s name, and would be one of his dirty secrets. That simple country girl, Claudine, hit a very responsive chord in all of Paris. Many women sought to emulate her, in her bobbed hair style and dress. In one scene Willy asks Colette to dress up as Claudine, er, ah, to enhance performance.A familiar trajectory: Willy continues his philandering ways. Colette objects, but sees the merits of what is good for the goose… Setting the tone, Willy himself becomes jealous of what appears to be her attention to a married man. Colette delivers the first indications of her inclinations, with another “au contraire.” “It was she that I found attractive.” Various lesbian affairs would follow, in what would become a very open marriage. All the philandering was somewhat scandalous for La Belle Epoque, no doubt helping book sales. More than a century later, the depiction of some lesbian love appears to remain scandalous, based on the number of 1-star reviews this movie received. Alas.I felt that Keira Knightly brilliantly played Colette. The movie presents some beautiful images of that pre-World War I era in France which can be a balm for the soul. Colette’s reputation is being enhanced as she is cast as an early “feminist,” sometimes dressing in men’s clothes, like George Sand before her. There are some good lines in the movie, like “It is the hand that holds the pen that writes history.” And there is the not-so-subtle nudge from Missy, a long-term lesbian lover: “You still need your headmaster…”Forget “Claudine.” It is the strong independent mind of a woman like Colette that enhances er…ah, performance. 5-stars, plus, for this beautiful reminder.

Colette is a movie based on the real life of a bisexual French writer in the early 1900s (played by Keira Knightley) who wrote a series of popular stories as a ghostwriter for her husband (played by Dominic West) who had stories penned by a factory of writers all published under his name, Willy. It really tells a very early women's liberation story as Colette fought for recognition of her work (and later for the right and authorship credit) which were popular books that told the story of her life.The acting and writing are great. While Knightly and West are clearly the leads and do most of the heavy lifting in terms of carrying the movie, the entire cast, including the supporting actors do a great job. It tells a story of women's rights, with a bit of sexual revolution, ostracism based on both gender and sexuality, as well as how infidelity was looked at during that era.For those who get the blu-ray, the movie looks and sounds great. The bonus material includes deleted scenes, a short making-of featurette, and a stills gallery. Not a ton of material, but good for what is there. If you are a fan of period pieces and/or biopics it is definitely worth checking out.

I had been reading a review of an old biography of Colette. I had already read one biography of the woman. Believe me when I say that the kinky sex that is so bountiful in this film is not what will impress you from her biography.I think that the 'Missy' (rumored to be transsexual, according to her Wiki bio) relationship lasted for 5 years, but Colette would go on to marry twice more, to men, and if anything, her predilection was for much younger men. This included an affair with her stepson. That phase of her life has not yet begun in the plot of this movie, yet it is something one can't escape in her novels. That Colette loved to veer to the autobiographical is what makes her writing so vivid and approachable.Colette was larger than life, loving the stage that was a platform to make her even larger, given an audience. There is really nothing wrong with this film (I'm glad it is free to watch on Prime) but it may not make you want to read her books. If you want to see women who act like men, the visual may just be enough. What is strange is that Colette having an affair with her 16-year-old stepson would be shocking and astonishing to the modern audience. I wonder if Keira Knightley would ever make THAT movie. I hope not.

I watched the film because I always find Kierra Knightley's work to be excellent and because I thought it would focus more on the injustices to women in that era. Instead I found it to be what the PC peddlers and meddlers spew out in every film today. The couple played a vigorous game of bed hopping with as many sex scenes as they could possibly throw in, sex scenes , that I might add, had little to do with an otherwise fairly decent story line. There was a very interesting story here to be told about a fascinating woman in history. That story was never really told. I kept waiting for it but it just never quite materialized. What you end up with is just a mediocre story, a very typical movie of today. This is apparently, the best Hollywood can churn out nowadays (yawn).That being said, Ms. Knightley's work is always an enjoyable experience.

J’ai apprécié le film je suis content de cet achat

Good seller which I would use again

Interesting biopic covering the early years of Collette. Good performances from the lead actors and the era beautifully evoked both visually and musically.

Approche intéressante de l'écrivaine dans une fin dix-neuvième, début vingtième. Époque à laquelle les femmes ont vraiment commencé à se libérer, sans pour autant être libre. Colette était vive, intelligente, combative et visionnaire. Il eut fallu plus aborder son implication " politique ". Pour les puristes, il semble que son mari de Willy prend ici une trop grande importance.Je vous signale qu'il y a un souci de traduction : on a soit la version originale anglaise, sous-titrée néerlandais ; soit la version française sous-titrée néerlandais. Il faut prévoir une version anglaise sous-titrée en français, et une version française sous-titrée en français pour les malentendants. C'est important !

Scrivere l'autobiografia di una scrittrice così eclettica come Colette, adorata in Francia e non solo, non è affatto semplice. Il film ripercorre la vita della grande autrice francese attraverso una fedele ricosdtruzione della sua vita.