Review: The Duke of Burgundy

A film concerning the S&M role-playing games played by lovers Sidse Babett Knudsen and the younger, submissive Chiara D’Anna. Basically, D’Anna takes on a servile role, and is frequently punished for every small indiscretion, and seemingly enjoying every bit of it, possibly even more so than her mistress/lover. As the film progresses, the dynamics of the submissive/dominant seem to be undergoing a change as the older Knudsen appears to be increasingly jealous, vain, and paranoid.

 

English writer-director Peter Strickland offers up a much better and more interesting film about an S&M relationship than “Fifty Shades of Grey”, with this sensual 2014 film. From the visuals captured by cinematographer Nicholas D. Knowland (“The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle”, “Jinnah”), the music score, as well as the title design, and the overall mood, it comes with a heavy 70s Eurotrash vibe to it. In fact, the only things stopping this from seeming like a Jesus Franco film are 1) It’s got better performances, and 2) It’s nowhere near as explicit as Franco’s softcore films. That second one stuck in my craw a bit, along with a less interesting second half. Otherwise, this is “Fifty Shades” done right, and fans of 70s Eurotrash will still find a lot to enjoy even though it’s pretty tame with on-screen sex and nudity.

 

I loved that lead actresses Sidse Babett Knudsen and Chiara D’Anna weren’t exactly ingénues. They’re both beautiful, but evoke an earlier ideal beauty, perhaps, and one that I personally responded to. Also, as much as I would’ve preferred a more explicit and less ‘arty’ film (though Franco was known for arty indulgences too, of course), Strickland saves himself from being called pretentious for the most part because one gets the sense that he’s sending things up just a tad here, pitching things slightly in a deliberately campy direction. It’s a silly film at times, and Strickland does look to be somewhat aware of it. All those scenes of the submissive washing the dominant’s underwear surely wasn’t meant to be taken too seriously. Still, because Strickland indulges in a bit of stylistic artiness and is much more concerned with sensuality than anything explicit or exploitative, it’s the kind of film that will be maddening for some. I can understand why it has divided audiences, even though I really enjoyed it (up to a point), and the lead actresses are both terrific.

 

It may not be terribly explicit, but it still manages to be very sensual, sexy even. It’s not just S&M here, you get the sense of a real romance and sensuality going on here, and the S&M is really more role-playing for fun than anything harsher, at least at first. The psychology going on here is fascinating, as the dominant is starting to crack a bit, and perhaps the tables are going to turn. It’s very well-done, with Sidse Babett Knudsen in particular nailing her aging, increasingly insecure character. However, this is all in the first half of the film, and that’s where most of the good things end. The second half drags and becomes very weirdly symbolic and unfortunately repetitive. Thankfully, the first half is still strong enough to keep the film over the line. Yes, that’s how damn good the first half is. However, as much as I have praised Knowland for his very 70s visual approach, that does switch in the second half, as there are whole scenes that are so murkily shot and under-lit that you can’t see a goddamn thing. 

 

Perhaps the only film you’ll ever see that offers up credits for ‘Dress and lingerie’ and ‘Perfume’ (Who cares about perfume? It’s not Smell-o-Vision!), this is an old-school sexy film that suffers from a lack of explicit sex and a draggy, Lynchian second half. That results in it being a soft recommendation when it was looking for all money to be a strong recommendation. Still, there’s some fine elements, and it’s a film that deserves a wider audience. With more explicitness it could’ve been truly amazing, but I’m not going to mark it down too much for not going there.

 

Rating: B-