Colette

THE GIST: Gabrielle Colette marries successful writer Henry Gauthier-Villars and moves with him to Paris. Suffering from writer's block, Henry asks his wife to write stories to be passed as his own. She doesn't mind, and so the semi-autobiographical character of Claudine is born. After Claudine's stories become successful though, Gabrielle starts resenting the subterfuge which is now keeping her in the shadow of her husband.

Colette is the fictional account of the real story of Gabrielle Colette, who had to fight the limits imposed on women by the society of her time in order to regain creative control of her work.

In the process, she successfully revolutionized the literary world and even gender norms about the needs and desires of women.

Keira Knightley is superb as Colette, flanked by an excellent Dominic West as her husband.

THE BOTTOM LINE: A well-made period film with great acting and an important message. Definitely recommended.

Grade: 7.5