Keira Knightley as Colette | Photo: YouTube/Bleecker Street
Keira Knightley is getting back to what we love her in best — period dramas.
Her newest movie, Colette, tells the true story of the French novelist by the same name. Born in 1873, she won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.
The movie seems to focus on two major aspects of her life: her marriage to Willy (Dominic West) and subsequent published novels, as well as her relationships with women.
Willy put his name to her first four novels, the Claudine stories, and they achieved major success. As their marriage began crumbling, Colette pursued her interest in women. One of her most well-known relationships was with the androgynous Mathilde de Morny (Denise Gough).
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As the synopsis reads: ‘Over time, lack of recognition for her work frustrates Colette, and an affair with the gender-defying Marquise de Belbeuf inspires her to break free, but Willy is determined to maintain his hold over her, at any cost.’
These stories have always existed
Telling true queer stories, especially in history, shows that LGBTI have always been here and always fought to be themselves.
In 2008, Knightley starred in another period film, The Duchess. She played the real figure of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. The movie hints at a romantic relationship between Georgiana and Lady Bess Foster, played by Hayley Atwell.
Wash Westmoreland directed Colette and co-wrote the script with Richard Glatzer. It arrives in US theaters on 21 September.
