By Emma Burles
Forget Mr Grey, it’s all about The Duke of Burgundy…
Cynthia (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and Evelyn (Chiara D’Anna) are two women in a consenting BDSM relationship. Cynthia is an older woman, dedicated, as most of the women in their community seem to be, to the study of butterflies, moths, and other insects of the Lepidoptera. The younger Evelyn also has a passion: for being humiliated.
The story is set in an unidentified European village, where no men seem to reside. It’s a delightful gothic utopia where the carpenters have Marilyn blonde bobs and wear black lace; and robed women ride bicycles through idyllic woodland areas and loll about in castles studying rare butterflies or indulging in sexual fantasies. No one ever seems to be in a rush, nor have any material concerns, and so all their time is given over to passion, pleasure and aesthetic beauty.
Knudsen (the critically acclaimed actress of Danish TV series Borgen fame) is brilliant as Cynthia, who feels much more comfortable reading a book in cotton pajamas than engaging in Bondage and Discipline, touchingly perseveres in playing along with Evelyn’s role-playing scenarios, though her quiet exasperation can’t help but shine through, threatening to ruin the fantasy of the pseudo-fragile Evelyn.
The film’s nationwide release is interesting timing considering the concurrent release of the highly publicized adaptation of a certain BDSM novel. However, Strickland offers up a view of a controversial subject that is so much more mature and emotionally genuine that all thought of the mainstream alternative is entirely expelled on viewing. Strickland states that, with The Duke, he wanted to normalise their sexual relationship; to humanise the woman behind the corsets, sexy lingerie and risqué sadist acts; showing her relaxing in her pajamas, whilst she warily complains about the muscle in her back she pulled lugging a huge wooden box to the bedroom so that she could lock her beloved in overnight, or reluctantly slipping on a pair of heels as she struggles to remember her lines. The result is surprisingly touching and very funny.
British Director Peter Strickland (who previously directed Bavarian Sound Studio, an offbeat throwback to Italian horror, and Katalin Varga, a revenge tale set in the Transylvanian mountains), remains here thoroughly un-British in his sensibilities, casting Danish, Italian and Iranian actresses, filming in Hungary and drawing heavily on 70’s Euro-porn as an influence, with its use of rich colour and fantasies that tend to covet rather than objectify the female form.
If 50 Shades emerged from a Twilight fan fiction story, The Duke could be a Hogwarts-for-adults inspired feminist BDSM tale with its grand, castle-like academic institutions, women in robes and a magical atmosphere. Like it’s mainstream ‘equivalent’, it focuses on a sado-masochist relationship, but allows it to float in the fantastical, whilst also managing to convey its characters as human beings rather than cardboard imitations. It will no doubt be highly underappreciated by the masses but will remain a delicately beautiful and finely tuned piece of European arthouse cinema for those who are willing to give it a chance to enthrall.
Emma Burles 