The Duchess ****

IS LIFE just a matter of history repeating itself? It almost feels like it in the bodice-ripper The Duchess where a young beauty from the Spencer family marries an older, well-connected member of the British Establishment only to discover that the marriage is a sham and she is trapped in a gilded cage.

You might assume we are talking about Charles and Diana but The Duchess is set in the 18th century and the Spencer in question is Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire.

The contemporary parallels certainly add an extra frisson of scandal to The Duchess but the film can easily stand on its own two feet as an intelligent, understated account of a young woman at the mercy of the misfortunes of love and the inequalities of the age in which she lived.

A triumphant Keira Knightley, right, gives her best performance since Pride & Prejudice as Georgiana. She has the figure and the poise to carry off a fabulous collection of frocks and extravagant hairstyles. More importantly, she captures the emotional core of the character; communicating the sense of frustration in a spirited young woman who could dazzle the world but was destined never to find happiness.

Georgiana is just 17 when her pragmatic mother Lady Spencer (Charlotte Rampling) arranges an advantageous marriage to the Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes). “I’ve only met him twice,” she marvels.

Giddy notions of romance and companionship are soon crushed. The Duke is cold and distant; more affectionate to his dogs than his wife. It quickly becomes clear that Georgiana’s sole purpose in life is to provide the family with a strong, healthy, male heir.

She accepts the humiliation of welcoming his illegitimate daughter into their home and finds her position weakened further when she gives birth to two daughters rather than the son that is expected from her.

She finds a friend in Lady Elizabeth Foster (Hayley Atwell) and someone who could be much more than a friend in ambitious politician and future Prime Minister Charles Grey (Mama Mia’s Dominic Cooper). When the Duke subsequently takes Elizabeth as his mistress, it becomes clear that there are going to be three people in this marriage.

The Duchess is sensitively directed by Saul Dibb, who is best known for Bullet Boy. He doesn’t allow himself to become overawed or distracted

by all the period trappings. Instead, he keeps the focus on the kind of emotions and desires that have a timeless resonance.

He also brings out the best in all of his actors, especially Fiennes. The Duke is the villain of the piece. In the old Gainsborough days, he would have been played with velvety menace by James Mason.

Fiennes manages to make him a figure of surprising complexity. He is moody and demanding and sees no reason to live in a world that does not abide by his rules. He is also quite tolerant, enlightened for the period and quietly witty.

An inebriated Georgiana stumbles into a chandelier at one point and sets her wig alight. The Duke displays admirable sangfroid as he wearily asks a servant to: “Please put out Her Grace’s hair.” It is the kind of performance that might well win Fiennes an award.

The supporting cast is also very good, with Rampling bringing a steely resolve to the portrayal of Georgiana’s mother. Based on the biography by Amanda Foreman, this is a fine British film that makes the past feel as alive and immediate as this week’s news.