6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The story of a marriage, Colette shows the lengths one woman must go to escape her husband's control and claim her voice as an artist.
Starring: Keira Knightley, Eleanor Tomlinson, Dominic West, Fiona Shaw, Aiysha HartDrama | 100% |
Biography | 64% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Glenn Close has been racking up a bevy of industry awards for her work in The Wife, and with both Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards under her figurative belt at this point, seems well poised to be taking home what some fans may feel is a long overdue Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in the film. In a way The Wife’s fictional treatment of a character named Joan Castleman rather oddly kind of traces at least parts of the same path as the real life Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, the groundbreaking French author who is probably best remembered by the public at large for having written the source novel that gave birth to Gigi. Like Castleman in The Wife, Colette (Keira Knightley) is a woman with an inherent writing talent, and also like Castleman in the other film, Colette ghostwrites for her husband, letting him soak up all of the credit, leading to understandably roiling emotions. Unlike The Wife’s tale, though, the real life Colette fought back (earlier, that is) and forged her own life and identity away from a husband she ultimately divorced. As director Wash Westmoreland briefly mentions in one of the supplements included on this Blu-ray disc, Colette has been a long time coming, having originally been written in 2001 by Washburn’s late partner Richard Glatzer. Perhaps a bit unexpectedly, especially since it concerns such a forward thinking (and acting) female, Colette is kind of quaintly old fashioned, detailing Parisian society in the late 19th and early 20th century in the kind of opulent way that has been part and parcel of both other biographical films set in this period, as well as fictional enterprises, including Vincente Minnelli’s celebrated musical version of Colette’s now legendary novel about a young courtesan experiencing her “awakening” as a woman.
Colette is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. In the "there's always something new to learn" category, the IMDb lists an Arri Alexa model I really am not familiar with, Studio. Several of the links to Arri's site that I turned up on a Google search for this model actually ended up pointing to other models, though I'm wondering if maybe it's the SXT series that's being referenced. In any case, I'm once again assuming this was finished at a 2K DI, and whichever camera was utilized, the results here are consistently impressive in terms of both detail levels and ability to segue fairly easily between some extreme lighting differences. Some of the scenes seem to have been graded kind of subtly toward yellow and blue, but the palette is rather widely variant and pops expressively throughout the presentation. Westmoreland and cinematographer Giles Nuttgens favor some "arty" framings that frequently feature lens flare or effulgent glows of light, and there are other scenes that seem to have been naturally lit, but detail levels remain commendable, even if some of the darkest scenes can have minimal shadow definition. A number of outdoor scenes offer nice detailing on foliage and the costumes and props are uniformly opulent, often with almost baroque patterning that always resolves well.
Even before the actual imagery starts, Colette's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track springs to life with early instances of birdsong as the rural Colette households wakes up one morning. The film's consistent use of both outdoor material and some crowded scenes like the "salons" that Colette and Willy frequent offer excellent opportunities for well placed surround effects. The film offers a number of (kind of odd at times) source cues, and the music wafts evocatively through the surround channels as well. Dialogue, including quite a bit of voiceover by Knightley as she reads various passages, is always rendered cleanly and clearly.
Colette is engaging and extremely handsome, but it's often surprisingly remote, especially given its provocative title character. I kind of wish the film had been a bit more provocative itself (we're way past the point where a close-up of two women kissing passionately passes for eye opening, at least in my opinion). Knightley is impressive in a role that sees her age (and mature) several years over the course of the story, and West is enjoyably hammy and hyperbolic as Willy. The film's production design is absolutely outstanding (I was kind of shocked to see Andrea Flesch's costumes not get an Academy Award nomination). Technical merits are first rate, and with caveats noted, Colette comes Recommended.
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