The Duke of Burgundy (2014)

This is frustrating because I felt like I had so much to say about the film as it was going on but now I can’t find the words. The directing here is spellbinding. That is really the one word to describe it. It’s so sensual and seductive, so enigmatic and impenetrable. The directing transforms everything else around it. Sidse Babett Knudsen is also absolutely spectacular. Throughout most of it she carries the film with just her face, and that’s all she needs to make us understand. She deserves awards attention, for sure. Unfortunately, when I said that the directing was spellbinding, it is… but there’s a certain disconnect between it and the screenplay. Thematically, the film is strong (sort of), but narratively, it’s also incredibly repetitive and drawn out. No doubt Strickland’s direction strengthens the film quite a lot, as does Knudsen, and while visually there are so many things to marvel at, the direction almost gets away with hiding its flaws… almost. When the film isn’t drawing out its inevitable conclusion (which, in terms of the last shot, was completely predictable) it sort of feels oddly melodramatic (without ever really going big) and sort of soapy. I enjoyed the film, no doubt, but the longer it went on the bigger a disconnect I felt between its various aspects. Still, I see this getting a lot of passionate fans (and dissenters) from both sides. I’m definitely in the positive side, although it really deserved to be so much better as a whole