The Duke of Burgundy *** (2014, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Chiara D’Anna) – Movie Review

Writer-director Peter Strickland’s follow-up to his Berberian Sound Studio is a teasing study of the power struggle between a sado-masochistic lesbian couple. That will be enough of a recommendation for some audiences, though which ones is not exactly certain. The film feels a bit chilly and not really very lesbian friendly, but I may be wrong. At any rate, it doesn’t seem much fun.

Sidse Babett Knudsen stars as the middle-aged Cynthia, who studies butterflies and moths (and this must be a clue to the film’s  puzzle), and Chiara D’Anna plays the younger woman Evelyn, who acts as her servant and keep asking to be demeaned further and further. But, then, in Strickland’s story, the slave is the one soon controlling the master, as she becomes more and more insistent on what she wants, then bossy herself.

And sadly the law of diminishing returns takes over as the limits to the couple’s love affair start to become clear and cracks appear in the relationship. The slave stops being interested in the master (mistress, that is) who has started to fall for the slave, leading her to be uncomfortable and unimaginative in providing the very excitements the slave craves, which turns out to be the whole and only shared basis of the relationship.

This is bizarre, uncomfortable, off-putting material, partly because a man is presuming to tell us about S&M lesbian relationships and partly because it all just seems intrusive and exploitative. Also the film has a tone problem. It seems to be serious, and then it tries to be playful and funny. So what really is the film up to? Has it got something on its mind to say or is it just a game? It’s up to audiences to decide.

It doesn’t seem to add anything particularly new or surprising or entertaining to this subject. The Joseph Losey-Harold Pinter film The Servant does the same job so much better, and so many years ago. Last Tango in Paris kind of does this job too, and also better than The Duke of Burgundy even if it can’t touch The Servant for class. Blue Is The Warmest Colour kind of does this job too, and also way better than The Duke of Burgundy. Though apparently seeking to break taboos, The Duke of Burgundy is really just re-treading well-trodden ground.

On the other hand, Strickland’s surprisingly elegant movie buff’s film is dressed to kill like the old-style art movie it apparently aspires to be, and it’s extremely well acted by a couple of brave performers game for pretty much anything. Of course, you do feel a bit worried about the actors, and whether they are being exploited, but that’s true of any film that graphically examines sexual relationships. Nicholas D. Knowland’s cinematography is striking and the soundtrack by Cat’s Eyes may be considered another bonus.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

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