Becoming Colette

Gabrielle (Mathilda May) is a beautiful country girl in her late teens. Well educated and independent, she is the daughter of an unsuccessful author, and she too has a fondness for writing. Gabrielle keeps a diary at her father's insistence. When a publisher from Paris, Henri Gauthier-Villars (Klaus-Maria Brandauer), visits her home, he is taken with the innocence and beauty of the young girl. Before long they are married and living in Henri's Paris apartment. The virginal Gabrielle gives herself fully to her new husband, unaware of his various mistresses and penchant for kinkiness. Soon after he arranges for a menage a trois with his favorite paramour, Polaire Sorel (Virginia Madsen), a seemingly wanton actress with the Folies Bergere. Gabrielle initially balks at the idea, but then willingly becomes lovers with her, bringing forth a newfound sexual liberation. Along with his carnal predilections, the manipulative Henri has a failing publishing house and growing debt due to his lavish spending. When he discovers Gabrielle's diary he realizes his problems are over. He convinces her to begin writing a novel based on her diary.

The result is a splendid tale of sexual awakening--the first of Colette's amazingly successful Claudine books. Henri insists, however, that the world would never accept such a novel from a female writer and therefore puts his name on the cover as the supposed author. Gabrielle reluctantly agrees and watches as her books become the rage of Europe. A virtual slave to her writing, and rarely able to leave her country house, she is living a very unfulfilled life. The occasional visits to Polaire, who has proven herself a true friend, and to a young Bohemian artist, Chapo (Paul Rhys), are all that keep her going. Henri's erratic behavior grows even more harsh--he spends all of their money on his lovers and rarely sees Gabrielle, and then only to pick up her most recent chapters.

The final blow occurs when Gabrielle learns that her mail has been intercepted by her husband. In fact, her father has fallen ill but Henri kept the news from her so that she would continue working. After visiting her papa she promises to turn her life around. Back in Paris she is ultimately betrayed anew when Henri promises to reveal Gabrielle as the true author of the books. At a meeting of France's literary elite, he once again claims the glory for himself. Chapo rises and identifies Gabrielle as the true scribe. She is finally liberated from the control of Henri who leaves in disgrace. Gabrielle takes her place at the top of the literary world.

The multifaceted relationship between Henri and Gabrielle, encompassing as it does the universal conflict between love and betrayal, is the catalyst for BECOMING COLETTE and it's on this intimate scale that Danny Huston's film works best. Even turning it into a triangular tale, upon Polaire's arrival, works because the focus remains on the human aspect. In capturing a large portion of someone's life, and certainly someone as complex as Colette, the narrative can get lost in the chronological pacing of the script. Thankfully that doesn't occur here. Instead, Ruth Graham's screenplay uses the author's early adulthood as the focal point of the story. Colette's formative years are made clear earlier through ample exposition and her success in later years, of course, is common knowledge.

Despite its heroine's relatively advanced age, BECOMING COLETTE is very much a coming of age story--both spiritually and sexually. Huston captures the story intelligently and truthfully, and with a nice dose of humor. The characterizations are wonderful. As Gabrielle, May (THE CRY OF THE OWL, NAKED TANGO) captures the change--from innocent schoolgirl to emancipated woman--with her expressive eyes and body language. She is that rare beauty whose performance could be overshadowed by her appearance. Her elocution and bearing are all that Colette's must have been, and a better casting choice is hard to imagine.

With his devilish performance as Henri, Brandauer continues to show why he's one of Europe's top stars. And Huston made a smart choice by not portraying Villars as a complete rogue. The poignant epilogue which suggests Henri's exoneration rings true and releases the character from a probable life of pain. As the sensual Polaire, Madsen (SLAM DANCE, THE HOT SPOT) shows surprising range. Nepotism works in this case, as Huston has cast his own wife in this pivotal role. They do their best to make her look merely attractive, but Madsen's beauty is hard to disguise.

Less successful are the larger scenes which begin to resemble badly staged costume epics. A backstage moment at the theater has a plethora of bumbling reporters crowded around the star Polaire--none of the actors seem to know what to do with themselves. When there are fewer than four characters onscreen, Huston is fine, but in the scenes requiring background action he loses control of the directorial reins. Also, there's a tendency when shooting period pieces to show off that era on an unneccessarily grand scale and unfortunately Huston follows suit. Berlin fills in admirably for the bustling streets of Paris, but the requisite shots of horse-drawn carriages, ornate costuming, big mustaches and extras extraordinaire are overly used. These all too familiar elements don't aid the story at all--but one would have to agree that an audience probably expects them.

With the previous MR. NORTH to his credit as well, Danny Huston is following in his famous father's footsteps by tackling films with substance and scale. BECOMING COLETTE may not seem like an obvious choice for a young American director, but he does a fine job with it, being backed up with a sturdy screenplay, solid cast and an engaging theme. (Profanity, nudity, sexual situations, adult situations.) leave a comment