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- 2015
- Not Rated
- Sundance Selects
- 1 h 44 m
- 2015
- Not Rated
- Sundance Selects
- 1 h 44 m
Summary Day after day, Cynthia (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and Evelyn (Chiara D'Anna) act out a simple yet provocative ritual that ends with Evelyn's punishment and pleasure. As Cynthia yearns for a more conventional relationship, Evelyn's obsession with erotica quickly becomes an addiction that may push the relationship to a breaking point.
Directed By: Peter Strickland
Written By: Peter Strickland
- 2015
- Not Rated
- Sundance Selects
- 1 h 44 m
- 2015
- Not Rated
- Sundance Selects
- 1 h 44 m
The Duke of Burgundy
6.8
Where to Watch
Summary Day after day, Cynthia (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and Evelyn (Chiara D'Anna) act out a simple yet provocative ritual that ends with Evelyn's punishment and pleasure. As Cynthia yearns for a more conventional relationship, Evelyn's obsession with erotica quickly becomes an addiction that may push the relationship to a breaking point.
Directed By: Peter Strickland
Written By: Peter Strickland
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
87
96% Positive
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
4% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
87
96% Positive
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
4% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Of course, this is a film you have to meet half-way. If you’re willing to enter its world, it’s an immensely rewarding, amusing, wise, melancholy and involving experience.
An act of cinephilic homage that transcends pastiche to become its own uniquely sensuous cinematic object, Strickland’s densely layered, slyly funny portrayal of the sadomasochistic affair between two lesbian entomologists tips its hats to such masters of costumed erotica as Jess Franco, Tinto Brass and Jean Rollin, without ever cheapening its strange but affecting love story.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 54 User Ratings
6.8
67% Positive
36 Ratings
36 Ratings
15% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
19% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 54 User Ratings
6.8
67% Positive
36 Ratings
36 Ratings
15% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
19% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
Amazing. Beautiful. Haunting. Poignant. Lush. Beautifully crafted. hyper-real, to the point that every squeak of a rusty bicycle chain, every rustle of a cotton sheet, and every bead of water dripping from that hand-washed laundry echoes through the surround speakers like a thunderclap. It’s as if sound carries its own erotic quality for Strickland, and it’s how he pulls the audience deeply into his movies’ very particular, peculiar worlds.
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I really enjoy watching this movie the twist and turns I had to watch it more than once to realize who was really the dominate one in the relationship. I love both of the characters especially the one played by Knudsen she just exudes the sexual sensuality I haven't seen in a long time. I can just breathe her in and yes she does make women in their 40's so sexually inviting. The movie remain in my mind the following giving me goose bumps and made me smile and think of my own lover who I take for granted. Strickland has great vision very thought provoking artsy sexually exotic movie without being vulgar.
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What makes The Duke Of Burgundy so affecting is how deftly Strickland and his remarkable actresses bring something as exotic as lesbian S&M into the realm of the ordinary and relatable. Viewers can see themselves in Cynthia and Evelyn, whether they’re hand-washing each other’s undergarments or not.
Peter Strickland charges full-tilt into the objectifying whims of his fantasies in order to somehow reach the other end of perception, which acknowledges the ultimate empathetic limitations of said fantasies.
In the end there is nothing especially campy about “The Duke of Burgundy,” which neither mocks its heroines nor the breathless, naughty screen tradition to which they belong. It’s a love story, and also a perversely sincere (and sincerely perverse) labor of love.
The Duke of Burgundy doubles down on the genre conventions and ends up being all the better for it. That’s thanks in large part to the score by the UK group Cat’s Eye, the two flawless lead performances, and cinematographer Nicholas D. Knowland’s keen eye for creating a more-than-acceptable simulacrum of Franco and Rolin’s hallucinatory, dreamlike vibes.
This is highly skilled filmmaking, but the movie is not for everybody — the relationship involves dominance and submission, sexual games played at a high pitch. This material falls short of pornographic, but still packs plenty of erotic punch.
Evocative and provocative, The Duke of Burgundy is an astounding work of art; Strickland takes an intriguing plot and masterfully weaves it into a gem filled with a fine mixture of uncanny eroticism and unexpected sadness. One of 2015's best films so far, and one of the best films I've ever seen about love.
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I get it: the emotional and erotic tensions are supposed to be building up and up, corroborated by kinky imagery and the general sense of weirdness. But the cut here is too clean and the acting too theatrical, the whole film becomes heavy on the eyes after a while. Like with Berberian Sound Studio, the intentions are all good, it's the realisation that lacks vigour and will, for some people, result in instant boredom. In other words, it's impossible to watch The Duke of Burgundy without being carefully and tightly pointed in the direction that screams at you: "Look how artsy this is. Look how shot composition is handled. Look how good we look." Rather than letting the viewer arrive at this conclusion on their own, the movie is much too keen to lead you to it. Besides, some of the weirdness here (like the temporal setting, or the thing with the butterflies) is unjustified and adds nothing to the viewing experience.
I would much rather see The Duke of Burgundy as a play, in a theatre: it's its natural environment, where acting like this really pays off, and you can be as lengthy and as reflective as you wish. As a film, it doesn't give much of a reason to keep watching it. Still better than superhero explosion galore, though, so I guess it still classifies for being one of the "good" films of 2015, if you're into it.
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With its constant slow zooms, abstract trippy sequences, double exposures, soft porn cliches, bad acting and mannequins among the lecture audience, one wonders how much of this is intentional stylistic quote. After the watching, this seems the biggest compliment one can make to this sad mess: it so lovingly emulated trash, that it become it. No amount of symbolism laid over thin connections with butterflies will help the horrible aftertaste of actual watching this movie. I'd rather count the trivial symbolism into another successful tribute to the soft porn genre of the '70 this movie so well imitates.
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In my opinon, this is one of the most incisive, penetrating, and empathetic films ever made about what it truly means to love another person, audaciously disguised as salacious midnight-movie fare. No better picture is likely to surface all year.
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Production Company
Rook Films,
Pioneer Pictures,
British Film Institute (BFI),
Film4,
Ripken Productions
Release Date Jan 23, 2015
Duration 1 h 44 m
Rating Not Rated
Awards
International Online Cinema Awards (INOCA)
• 8 Nominations
Chlotrudis Awards
• 1 Win & 7 Nominations
International Cinephile Society Awards
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
