The Duchess is a 2008 historical drama film directed by Saul Dibb. It is based on Amanda Foreman s biography of the late-18th century English aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. It was released in September 2008 in the United Kingdom. The film won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, and was nominated for Best Art Direction.

Plot

The young Georgiana is contracted in marriage to William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire, with the expectation that she produce his male heir. Georgiana is quickly disillusioned by her husband, especially when Charlotte, an illegitimate child fathered by William whose mother has died, comes to live with them while Georgiana is pregnant. William expects Georgiana to tolerate the child s presence. He also suggests that she practise mothering on the young girl. When Georgiana gives birth to a girl, William is displeased. In his mind, he has fulfilled his obligations to her as her husband but, by failing to provide him with a legitimate male heir, she has failed in her obligations as his wife.

Georgiana socialises with the young Lady Bess Foster at Bath and invites her to live with them since Bess has nowhere else to go. William has an affair with Bess, causing Georgiana to feel robbed of her only friend and betrayed by Bess. Bess tells Georgiana that her motive is to regain her three sons (whom her husband has taken from her), so she continues to live with them.

Georgiana starts an affair with Charles Grey. William is outraged when Georgiana suggests that since he has Bess, she should be allowed Charles. William rapes Georgiana; a male child is the product. Bess encourages the affair between Georgiana and Charles after the birth of Georgiana s son. Soon, the whole of London society learns of Georgiana s affair. William threatens to end Charles s political career and forbid Georgiana from seeing her children again if she does not end the relationship. After initially refusing, Georgiana ends her relationship with Grey but tells William that she is pregnant with Charles child. She is sent to the countryside where she gives birth to her daughter with Grey, Eliza Courtney, who is given to the Grey family to raise as Charles niece.

Georgiana finds comfort in Bess s friendship during her time of giving birth to Eliza. Georgiana and William come to terms with one another and, along with Bess, continue their lives together.

The after-credits reveal Georgiana secretly visits her daughter Eliza. Eliza goes on to name her own daughter Georgiana, after her mother. Charles later becomes Prime Minister under William IV. Before she dies, Georgiana permits William and Bess to marry.

Cast

• Keira Knightley as Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
• Ralph Fiennes as William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire
• Hayley Atwell as Lady Elizabeth Bess Foster
• Charlotte Rampling as Georgiana Spencer, Countess Spencer, Georgiana s mother
• Dominic Cooper as Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
• Aidan McArdle as The Right Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan
• Simon McBurney as The Right Honourable Charles James Fox
• Sebastian Applewhite as Sir Augustus Clifford, 1st Baronet
• Calvin Dean as Devonshire House Servant
• Emily Jewell as Nanny
• Richard McCabe as Sir James Hare
• Bruce Mackinnon as actor playing Sir Peter Teazle in The School for Scandal
• Alistair Petrie as Heaton
• Georgia King as actress playing Lady Teazle in The School for Scandal
• Camilla Arfwedson as Lady Charlotte

Production

The Duchess was produced by British Qwerty Films and American Magnolia Mae Films, with financial support from BBC Films, French Pathé and Italian BIM Distribuzione. The film was shot at Twickenham Film Studios and on location at Chatsworth, Bath, Holkham Hall, Clandon Park, Kedleston Hall, Somerset House, King s College London and the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich.

Regarding lead actress Keira Knightley, director Saul Dibb said The Duchess was a chance to take a character from late childhood – she s married at 17 – into full adulthood, 10 years later. It was also a chance for Knightley to work with Ralph Fiennes, whom she regarded as one of her most accomplished co-stars to date; Dibb said, When I said, We ve got Ralph interested in playing the Duke, we both took a gulp and went, F—. … But I didn t for one second feel that she wasn t up to the task. Originally, the film was to be directed by Susanne Bier.

Release

Marketing

Studio executives wanted to use digitally altered images of Keira Knightley in promotional materials. The alterations were specifically aimed at enlarging her breasts. Knightley objected to the alterations, and they were not used. Although multiple media reports suggested that the use of parallels between the central character s life and that of Diana, Princess of Wales was being used as a marketing strategy for the project, Knightley denied any such connection.

Theatrical release

The BBFC has classified the film as a 12A, citing the scene of implied marital rape, which is delivered through Georgiana s screams of protest, heard from outside the bedroom door. The BBFC s PG rating allows implied sex as long as it is discreet and infrequent; the board decided that the scene in The Duchess is more than discreet or implied . The film had its world premiere on 3 September 2008, in Leicester Square and was released nationwide in the United Kingdom on 5 September.

Critical response

The film received mostly positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives a score of 62% based on 170 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The site s consensus reads: While The Duchess treads the now-familiar terrain of the corset-ripper, the costumes look great and Keira Knightley s performance is stellar in this subtly feminist, period drama. Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews .

Most reviewers highly praised Knightley and Fiennes performances. Time Out London wrote: is also helped enormously by a mature, restrained portrayal from Knightley, a masterclass in passive aggression from Fiennes and a performance of tender seduction from Atwell. Film Ireland writes It is a slow movie, but it is well-acted with Knightley and Fiennes suited to their roles, especially Fiennes who gives a formidable and powerful performance. Cameron Bailey, the co-chair of the Toronto International Film Festival comments, The Duchess Of Devonshire, with Keira Knightley, which is a beautiful film and she gives a really mature performance. You re seeing her really turn into something beyond the kind of pretty face that we ve seen her do already so well. But she s actually a very serious actress, and she s turning into a great, great performer.

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote that Dibb s movie looks good but complained the film was exasperatingly bland and slow-moving at all times handing out a 2 of 5-star rating. However, Paul Hurley gave the film 8/10 and called The Duchess an excellent new film and states that The Duchess stands a good chance of taking home some very big prizes at the end of the year .

Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, writing, I deeply enjoyed the film, but then I am an Anglophile. I imagine the behavior of the characters will seem exceedingly odd to some viewers. Well, it is.

Accolades

Awards ceremony	Award Category	Subject	Result
Academy Awards	Best Art Direction	Michael Carlin and Rebecca Alleway	Nominated
	Best Costume Design	Michael O Connor	Won
British Academy Film Awards	Best Costume Design	Michael O Connor	Won
	Best Make-Up and Hair	Daniel Phillips and Jan Archibald	Nominated
British Independent Film Awards	Best Actress	Keira Knightley	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Ralph Fiennes	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Hayley Atwell	Nominated
	Best Technical Achievement	Michael O Connor (Costume)	Nominated
London Film Critics Circle	British Actor of the Year	Ralph Fiennes	Nominated
	British Actress in a Supporting Role	Hayley Atwell	Nominated
Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Ralph Fiennes	Nominated
People s Choice Awards	Favorite Actress	Keira Knightley	Nominated
	Favorite Independent Movie	The Duchess	Nominated
Satellite Awards	Best Art Direction and Production Design	Karen Wakefield and Michael Carlin	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Gyula Pados	Nominated
	Best Costume Design	Michael O Connor	Won

Year	2008
ReleaseDate	2008-10-10
RuntimeMins	110
RuntimeStr	1h 50min
Plot	A chronicle of the life of 18th-century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life.
Awards	Won 1 Oscar, 8 wins & 21 nominations total
Directors	Saul Dibb
Writers	Jeffrey Hatcher, Anders Thomas Jensen, Saul Dibb
Stars	Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Dominic Cooper
Produced by	Alexandra Arlango,Carolyn Marks Blackwood,Amanda Foreman,François Ivernel,Michael Kuhn,Christine Langan,Cameron McCracken,Malcolm Ritchie,Andrew Semans,Gabrielle Tana,Jill Tandy,David M. Thompson,Andrew Warren,Colleen Woodcock,Mark Woolley
Music by	Rachel Portman
Cinematography by	Gyula Pados
Film Editing by	Masahiro Hirakubo
Casting By	Lucy Bevan
Production Design by	Michael Carlin
Art Direction by	Karen Wakefield
Set Decoration by	Rebecca Alleway
Costume Design by	Michael O’Connor
Makeup Department	Jo Adams,Jan Archibald,Corinne Bossu,Gill Bunker,Anita Burger,Catherine Davies,Rowena Dean,Vickie Ellis,Louise Fisher,Clarice Gill,Maureen Hetherington,Stephanie Hovette,Sue Ignatius,Jane Logan,Heather Manson,Ruth Mitchell,Fran Needham,Daniel Phillips,Marc Pilcher,Tapio Salmi,Loulia Sheppard,Rachael Speke,Manny Stirpe,Barbara Taylor,Rose Warder,Christine Whitney,Louise Young,Camilla Kirk-Reynolds,Claire Matthews,Jo Nielsen,Rupert Simon,Jo Wand,Alison Webb
Production Management	Tania Blunden,Nick Laws
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Tom Brewster,Paul Cathie,Toby Hosking,Sandrine Loisy,Iain B. MacDonald,Alastair Ramsden,Josh Robertson,Nick Shuttleworth
Art Department	Viv Ball,Bruce Barnes,Andy Blore,Alex Boswell,Matthew Broderick,Tim Browning,Daniel Byrne,Gillian Campbell,Christopher Chandler,Nic Clayton,James Collins,Dave Cooper,Dan Crandon,Jim Dyson,James Enright,Lucy Eyre,Colin Fox,Lee George,Claire Grainger,Muffin Green,Dean Hawley,Kathy Heaser,Lisa Heathcote,Lewis Heaver,Lee Hosken,Jason Htay,Mark Jones,Athene MacRae,Robert May,Mark McCabe,Adam McCreight,Alex McDonald,Ben Munro,Eddie Murphy,Tim Powis,Ben Rai-Green,Jody Raynes,Neil Smith,Michael Standish,Kristin Theyers,Rebecca Thomas,Maira Vazeou,Mark Wallis,Andrew Wilson,Carl Wilson,Ray Wilson,Nick Wood,Paul Couch,Seb Palmer
Sound Department	Paul Botham,Grant Bridgeman,Jeremy Brown,Oliver Bunker,Roberto Cappannelli,Andie Derrick,Frederic Echelard,Alex Ellerington,Simon Fraser,Peter Gleaves,Howard Halsall,Paul Hamblin,Catherine Hodgson,Marco Itta,Andrea King,Forbes Noonan,Ben Norrington,Jeff Richardson,Alexandros Sidiropoulos,Noel Thompson,Mike Turner,Martin Williams
Special Effects by	James Davis III,Hugh Goodbody,Mark Holt,Peter Kersey,Stephen Shelley,Jan Staines,Peter Treece,Jamie Weguelin,Oliver Guy-Watkins
Visual Effects by	Zishaan Ajmal,Simon Allmark,Bradley Bayliss,Janice Body,Ed Cross,Paul Doogan,Miles Drake,Adam Gascoyne,Adam Hammond,Pete Hanson,Kristine-Joeann Jasper,Matthew Leach,Alex Llewellyn,Steve Lynn,Fay McConkey,Mark Michaels,Marc Neale,Timo-Pekko Nieminen,Charlie Noble,Dan Perry,Paul Raeburn,Bob Roach,Becky Roberts,Dave Scott,Nam Vu,Faye Walkington,Taz Lodder,David Wahlberg
Stunts	Marc Cass,Stuart Clark,Stewart James,Gerard Naprous,Seon Rogers,Lee Sheward,Maxine Whittaker
Camera and Electrical Department	Pip Ayers,Roy Branch,Tommy Carlin,John Clarke,Andy Cole,John Colley,Elliot Dupuy,Andy Edridge,Rodrigo Gutierrez,Rawdon Hayne,Dermot Hickey,Jon Hurley,Nick Kenealy,Ben Kerr,Adrian Mackay,Iain MacKay,Vince Madden,Chris McAleese,Peter Mountain,Mike Parsons,Nick Ray,James Ray-Leary,Kenny Richards,Adam Samuelson,Alan Stewart,Chris Tann,Gerry Vasbenter,Marc Woodcock,Rob Gilmour,Peter Hodgson,Ian Speed,Nick Wall
Casting Department	Abigail Barbier,Louis Elman,Ruth Key
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Clare Banet,Kathryn Blight,Jane Bogunovic,Kaniez Braganza,Anthony Brookman,Sophie Bugeaud,Lorraine Burn,Ann Cartwright,Abbie Chapman,Dee Churchfield,Estelle Cleary,Rosy Coppola,Saffron Cullane,Sally Davis,Lucy Donowho,Sjølander Embroidery,Ian Foweraker,Gordon Harmer,Carin Hoff,Vandra Howard,Andrew Joslin,Jo Korer,Anna Kot,Barbara Kuznar,Ashwin Makan,Ann Maskrey,Maja Meschede,Tracey Millar,Rosanna Normanton,Steve O’Sullivan,Jools Osborne,Yvonne Otzen,Maggie Partington-Smith,Luan Placks,Marie Ross,Barbara Sweryda,Daisy Thistlethwayte,Jacqueline Thomas,Sarah Touaibi,John Usher,Lupt Utama,Cecile Van Dijk,Wyn Vaughan-Humphreys,Gerald Moulin
Editorial Department	Marcus Alexander,Jonathan Dixon,Dale E. Grahn,Élodie Ichter,Adam Inglis,Jenny King,Andrew Lim,Faye Morgan,Clive Noakes,Ravinder Patria,Josh Sutcliffe,Steven Waltham,Neil Williams,Stephen Bearman
Location Management	Andrew Dalmahoy,Rebecca Davis,Ben Gladstone,Jamie Lengyel,Tom Stourton,Peter Tullo
Music Department	Jonathan Allen,Jeff Atmajian,Pavel Belousek,Anne Collis,Chris Cozens,Chris Dibble,Andrew Dudman,James Fitzpatrick,Jan Holzner,Abbie Lister,Petr Matejak,Yann McCullough,Nyree Pinder,Rachel Portman,Jiri Simunek,David Snell,Emil Tchakarov,Rick Wentworth,Bruce White,Youki Yamamoto,Warren Zielinski
Script and Continuity Department	Sam Donovan
Transportation Department	Simon Barker,Daniel Brown,Simon Burgess,Alan Higman,Franca Jade,Nick Kenyon,Andy Levett,Steve Lewis,Andy Lindley,Adam Steers,Peter Strachan,Marcus Ward,Barrie Williams,Dave Williams,David N. Williams
Additional Crew	Geraldine Atlee,Jon Baker,Philip Ball,Linda Bowen,Andy Butcher,Lee Bye,James Clarke,Jessica Cole,Jayne Copperwaite,Tom Cox,Ryan Creely,Emma Davie,Noel Donnellon,Pierre Du Plessis,Simon ‘Spike’ Duke,John K. Duncan,Nicky Earnshaw,Shyama Friedenson,Fiona Gilbert,Michael Gilbert,John Gomez,Tania Gordon,Mary Greenwell,Hannah Greig,John David Gunkle,Hattie Harper,Tarn Harper,Emma Hazell,Oliver Hazell,Lisa Heathcote,Robyn Henderson,Caroline Hewitt,Sarah Hunt,Mick Hurrell,Amy Irvine,Ben Irving,Francesca Jaynes,Poss Kondeatis,Carly Lewisohn,Kim Li,James MacFarlane,Charlotte Macpherson,Meg Mathisen,Chelsea M. Matthews,Jill McCullough,Dermot McDermott,Fiona McGuire,Ciaran Moran,Jo Morris,Charlotte Mukalazi,Max Murphy,Daniel Naprous,Tiffany Nilson,Robert Norris,Jackie O’Sullivan,David Z. Obadiah,Charles Ornstein,Bonnie Parker,James Payton,Kate Penlington,Richard Philipps,Roger Phillips,Rachel Plose,Gill Raddings,Gemma Read,Bill Ridealgh,Mike Runagall,Muriel Sauzay,Richard Slinn,Helen Turpin,Nick Vasili,Matthew Vizard,Jonathan Weisgal,Michael Wood,Sally Woodfield,Carly Lewisohn,Kris Smith
Thanks	Maggie Ainley,Jeannie Beha,Deborah Cavendish,Peregrine Cavendish,Thomas Coke,Richard Curzon,Mike Daley,Victoria Flannagan,Gerry Fox,Bea Kuhn,Grant Lee,Simon McCormack,William Middup,Polly M. Whately
Genres	Biography, Drama, History
Companies	Paramount Vantage, Pathé, BBC Films
Countries	UK, Italy, France, USA
Languages	English
ContentRating	PG-13
ImDbRating	6.9
ImDbRatingVotes	83407
MetacriticRating	62
Keywords	marriage,duchess,heir,infidelity,adultery