Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Colette Blu-ray Movie Review

La femme.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 28, 2019

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.

Though he’s really not that well remembered today (in an ironic twist which no doubt would have delighted the real life Colette), Henry Gauthier- Villars, who went by the nom de plume Willy (Dominic West), was a major celebrity in Parisian “salon culture”, and headed an aggregation of writers, all of whom worked for him and churned out material, all of which was published under Willy’s “name”. The film doesn’t really get into much of the history between the Colette family and Gauthier-Villars’, other than Colette’s passing reference to both her and Willy’s fathers having been war buddies, but one way or the other, Willy and Colette are already an “item” as the film begins, this despite the fact that the rural Colette family can’t offer anything in the way of a dowry, then still an expected element of any upper class marriage.

Willy and Colette marry, and the first part of the film details Colette’s introduction to Parisian society, where she’s looked at slightly askance by Willy’s coterie of high-falutin’ intellectual friends and acolytes. Nonetheless, the two seem to be happy, at least until Colette is tipped off that Willy tends to frequent local prostitutes. A brief estrangement leads to a rapprochement where Willy promises to include Colette in his everyday life, which ultimately leads to Willy encouraging Colette to write. Initially, he dismisses her work as “too feminine”, but after a series of misfortunes intrudes and his prominent place in society is threatened, he reexamines a fictionalized autobiography of sorts she’s written and decides to edit it (with her help), leading to the immense success of the first Claudine novel. It is, of course, published under Willy’s name.

While Colette does a decent job in detailing its title character’s own “Gigi-esque” awakening, detailing a sexual awareness that includes lesbian lovers (leading to one passingly shocking “scandal”), the film is perhaps emotionally undercut by a couple of elements. First, the film is relentlessly opulent and luxurious looking, even when Colette’s fortunes supposedly take a downturn. But even more importantly, Knightley’s Colette is so inherently strong and self assured that any “struggle” seems to have a foregone conclusion. The film also arguably suffers from "biopic-itis", offering elisions and segues that may admittedly be cinematic but which also tend to distance the characters from the viewer, making them feel less realistic. Still, this is a handsome production that benefits from outstanding performances, and it's clear that co-writer and director Wash Westmoreland put his heart and soul into this piece.

Colette Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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.

Colette Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 6:29)


• The Story Behind Colette (1080p; 2:18) is really more like a glorified trailer, as might be gleaned from its brevity.


• Notes on a Scene (1080p; 8:05) features Wash Westmoreland guiding the viewer through an analysis of the big party scene that introduces Colette as Willy's wife.


• Costume Design Photo Gallery (1080p; 3:30)

Colette Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.