Colette is the thematic flip side of The Wife; this story shows how a woman can write, ostensibly under a man’s name, later to reveal to the world that she, indeed, is the true author of popular works.  In The Wife that fact may never be made known; here, it is the postscript to the biography of the French author’s early years.  It is somewhat odd that a film so French in nature is produced and performed (with British accents) by a British cast and crew, but that does not lessen its impact.

Wash Westmoreland’s film recounts the early adulthood years of Colette (Keira Knightley) as she is wed by the popular writer Henri Gauthier-Villars, known as “Willy” (Dominic West), taken to Paris and introduced to high society.  A free spirit, Colette soon tires of Willy’s dominance, yet learns to live with him and to experiment to find personal fulfillment.  She begins to write for Willy and authors the story “Claudine” which catapults them to riches.  It is this story which eventually causes their relationship to fracture forever, and Colette turns to women to find comfort and solace.

I expected this film to be much more salacious than it actually is.  Westmoreland takes care to fully develop his characters; Willy, in particular, is an absolutely fascinating man (and beautifully portrayed by Dominic West; he’s never been better).  This is a film that seriously examines aspects of France at the turn of the twentieth century, specifically roles of the sexes in that society, how Willy ran an office of writers for which he took total credit, and how people looked upon women who flaunted the customs of the era.  Knightley is properly headstrong and curious in the lead role, but I think the film emphasizes everything around her more so than the writer herself.

I am very impressed by the diligence this film takes with its historical characters and how audiences at the time reacted to them.  It is a tightly-written, expertly-directed slice of life, presenting a woman coming into her own as a person and a writer, learning how to express herself and outgrowing the man who seems to truly love her.  It is another biographical success for Keira Knightley and one of the finest depictions of how people write to be put on screen in recent years.  Highly recommended.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  11 November 2018.