COLETTE A Renaissance Women - The Film Stars Keira Knightly in a Crowning Role

Colette (b France 1873-1964) was a country girl with humble beginnings that belie the revolutionary, artistic genius and free spirit that lies ahead.  COLETTE directed by Wash Westmoreland (b UK 1966) captures the fascinating irrepressible & independent spirit possessed by the acclaimed author, actress & journalist.  Keira Knightly is captivating as Colette, a woman whose talent & thirst for life could not be suppressed by her deceitful & domineering husband Henry (Dominic West.)  Henry, a sophisticated boorish Parisian deigns to marry Colette & move her to Paris with him.  Early on Colette shows her disdain for pretentious airs & unflappable character when thrust upon Parisian snobbish society.  Still Colette married "Willy" for love and she willingly (at first) becomes a ghost writer under Henry's nom-de-plum Willy.  The "Claudine" novels fly off the bookshelves garnering fame & financial success for Willy.  The first of the "Claudine" novels written by Colette became best sellers due to Colette literary prose & titillating lesbian innuendos.  Success only leads Willy to become more of a reckless spendthrift keeping them in debt and demanding Colette proliferate her writings holding her captive.  This arrangement doesn't sit well or last long with Colette.  She finds her own voice, lovers and embarks on an emancipated & exotic life-style. Knightly luxuriates in daylight, candlelight and electric lights.  The epoch at the turn of the 19th C in France was feverish for avant-garde artistic circles and bohemian attitudes.  British cinematographer Giles Nuttgens captures an authentic Parisian aesthetic and is flush with intimate sensuality.  The enticing British & Irish cast includes Fiona Shaw as Colette's strong willed mother, Denise Gough as Missy, Colette's androgynous female lover and Eleanor Tomlinson as the American lover to both Colette & her husband.  This movie revels firmly on Knightly's strident portrayal of a woman for the ages who found her own voice and lived her life without constraints. "What a wonderful life I've had!  I only wish I'd realized it sooner." COLETTE is an art house film without pretense that paints an exquisite portrait of a complex, confident & truly remarkable maverick on the big screen.  I suggest seeing the life of this Renaissance woman up on the screen sooner rather than later.