sasha_feather | Rec: Colette (2018)

I really enjoyed seeing the film Colette this weekend. The acting was superb, the outfits were gorgeous, and the story was interesting.

Kiera Knightley plays the famous French author. Dominic West does a great job playing Willy, her husband. Willy is complicated and largely unlikeable, a bad husband, but what is so well done here is that we see why Colette likes him: they have chemistry, he's exciting and she likes excitement, he can be funny and charming. He's a famous writer and his name is his brand. She becomes one of his ghost writers, writing semi-autobiographical books which become a huge hit. Willy takes all the credit, and does other odious things like cheating and gambling.

Colette eventually outgrows Willy. She has an affair with a woman, and later forms a long-term relationship with a trans man played by Denise Gough. I loved their relationship and this portrayal, though I wish they had cast an out trans or non-binary actor in this role.

This story wasn't really about Colette's queerness. Her queerness was just a given. She didn't struggle with it. What she struggled with, was her marriage to and her feelings for Willy. I think most of us can relate to these feelings of loving someone who is ultimately bad for you, and of learning to value yourself enough to recognize it and step away.