Customer Reviews

Becoming Colette [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This movie depicts an era gone by. Colette is actually the name of a character she writes about, a girl who has adventures and is mischevious, her alter ego. Her family marries her to a man who appears on the surface to have a fine place in society, but in fact is an unsuccessful publisher and who is constantly in debt and in need of rescuing by his family. He sees an opportunity to exploit his naive bride by publishing her works, but only under his name. He convinces her this is necessary, as society would not accept a woman writing the racy tales she provides. He leads her to experience a menage a trois with his mistress, and the mistress entices her to use drugs, all of which only opens Colette's eyes to the reality of her own world, and the realization that her place in that world is unsatisfactory. Her eventual confession to the world that she is the author is her cry of freedom and liberation from the structured world that society dictates is where women must dwell. The real Colette wrote the story for "Gigi", which became an Oscar-winning movie, but unfortunately Colette passed away before she learned how beloved her story had become.

The photography and music in this movie are wonderful, and you gain a sense of being in a dream. Colette would have loved that sensation attributed to her stories, and perhaps she would love it for her own story.

EXCELLENT FILM. VIRGINIA MADSEN AS AN ACTRESS BACK IN THE DAYS OF THE NOTORIOUS "MOULIN ROUGE" IS EXCELLENT AND SHE DOES A MARLENE DIETRICH TYPE OF SONG AS SHE'S SITTING ON A MOON. KLAUS MARIA BRANDAUER IS HOWEVER THR MAIN ACTRESS. SHE PLAYS A NAIVE YOUNG GIRL WHO MARRIED AN OLDER MAN WHO WAS NOT WHO HE PRETENDED TO BE. HE EVEN PUBLISHES A BOOK SHE WROTE UNDER HIS NAME. ANYHOW VIRGINIA MADSEN (WHO WAS HIS MISTRESS) BECOMES HER FRIEND AND LOVER (GREAT LESBIAN SCENES) AND WISES HER TO HIS DOINGS. A FINE FILM YOU MUST SEE!!THERE'S AN EXCELLENT SONG WHICH IS SUNG BY JACKIE DE SHANNON AT THE END OF THE FILM. IT SHOULD'VE BEEN A BIG HIT!

I see a glaring error in the last review & have checked the facts at IMDB!

KLAUS MARIA BRANDAUER (a male actor) was the Older Man (Henri Gauthier-Villars), NOT the Young Girl (Sidonie Gabrielle Colette), who was played by Mathilda May, the real star of this film! Virginia Madsen's character (Polaire) seems accurately described.