This film is part of Rentals
Colette
This witty, Belle Époque-era biopic stars Keira Knightley and Dominic West as literary couple Colette and Willy, whose relationship rewrote social and gender rules.
Director: Wash Westmoreland
Overview
Free-thinking country girl Sidonie-Gabrielle ‘Colette’ is barely out of her teens when she marries ‘Willy’, a literary impresario 14 years her senior; the two become a fixture of the Paris avant-garde salons of the late 19th century. Recognising her talent, Willy puts Colette to work, publishing her under his name. But when her titillating, risqué Claudine series – thinly veiled autobiographical tales of the Sapphic loves of a French school girl – becomes a smash hit, Colette tires of Willy stealing her success and fights back to reclaim her own literary name.
Following his Oscar-winning Still Alice, writer-director Wash Westmoreland delivers a rollicking, bang-on-zeitgeist drama (and a glorious tribute to Westmoreland’s late partner Richard Glatzer, with whom he started the project). Dominic West gleefully embodies the charming if sleazy Willy, who is shocked when his wife challenges him. And Knightley is sensational as Colette, blooming from provincial maiden to a radical rule-defying feminist and iconoclast. Colette is a swaggering portrait of a great female artist – defiant in her public affairs with both men and women, and in fighting her husband for her intellectual property rights – and a paean to one of the architects of modern womanhood.
Related
The Iron Claw The Iron Claw
Biopic 2023 132 mins Director: Sean Durkin
Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson and Jeremy Allen White lead this brilliant, bruising true story of wrestling glory and family tragedy.
Your Fat Friend Your Fat Friend
Biopic 2024 96 mins Director: Jeanie Finlay
A powerful and moving documentary exploring body image, diet culture and anti-fat bias through the life and work of Aubrey Gordon.
Tina Tina
Documentary 2021 118 mins Director: Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin
Classic live footage and engaging interviews create a powerful film that celebrates icon Tina Turner's tumultuous career.
Corsage Corsage
Biopic 2022 114 mins Director: Marie Kreutzer
Sisi the Empress (Vicky Krieps) gets an irreverent make-over in Austrian director Marie Kreutzer’s exhilarating BAFTA-nominated period drama, winner of Best Film at BFI London Film Festival 2022.
Meeting Gorbachev Meeting Gorbachev
Documentary 2018 91 mins Director: Werner Herzog and André Singer
Werner Herzog meets the former President of the Soviet Union in this invigorating portrait of a towering 20th-century figure.
Mr. Jones Mr. Jones
Drama 2019 119 mins Director: Agnieszka Holland
James Norton stars as Welsh journalist Gareth Jones whose 1930s visit to Soviet Ukraine uncovered the truth of Stalin’s state-sponsored famine and reputedly inspired George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
Bend it Like Beckham Bend it Like Beckham
Sport 2002 112 mins Director: Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha’s smash hit about an Asian girl with an undying love for football.
The Imitation Game The Imitation Game
Biopic 2014 115 mins Director: Morten Tyldum
Benedict Cumberbatch’s roundly acclaimed performance anchors the incredible, Oscar-winning story of code-breaker Alan Turing.
Still Alice Still Alice
Drama 2014 102 mins Director: Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland
Julianne Moore won an Oscar for her extraordinary performance as a linguistics professor diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Sometimes I Think About Dying Sometimes I Think About Dying
Drama 2023 2 mins Director: Rachel Lambert
Daisy Ridley stars as a melancholic office worker who fantasises about her own death, in Rachael Lamberts wonderfully offbeat drama.
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus
Documentary 2023 103 mins Director: Neo Sora
This moving tribute to the late composer and musician speaks volumes about his enormous talent, pioneering work and dedication to his craft.
Our Mothers Our Mothers
Drama 2019 77 mins Director: César Díaz
As Guatemala confronts its violent past, a forensic anthropologist is tasked with identifying the dead, in this affecting Cannes prize-winning drama.
Red Herring Red Herring
Documentary 2023 94 mins Director: Kitson Vincent
Following his terminal diagnosis, young filmmaker Kit Vincent sets out to document an intimate and darkly humorous journey in this BIFA nominated documentary.
Robot Dreams Robot Dreams
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 103 mins Director: Pablo Berger
Spanish director Pablo Berger delivers a rich and emotionally engaging dialogue-free animation about friendship, set in a bustling 1980s New York City.
Stephen Stephen
Drama-documentary 2023 78 mins Director: Melanie Manchot
Artist Melanie Manchot’s debut feature is a visually striking film-within-a-film, exploring mental health and addiction.