Production Notes
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PRODUCTION NOTES Runtime: 111 Mins Australian Publicity Contact: Transmission Films | Amy Burgess, National Publicity Manager [email protected] THE CAST Colette...............................................................................................................................Keira Knightley Willy.....................................................................................................................................Dominic West Missy............................................................................................................................Denise Gough Sido............................................................................................................................................Fiona Shaw Georgie Raoul-Duval.................................................................................................Eleanor Tomlinson Jules..........................................................................................................................................Robert Pugh Veber......................................................................................................................................Ray Panthaki THE FILMMAKERS Directed by.......................................................................................................Wash Westmoreland Screenplay by................................Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland, Rebecca Lenkiewicz Story by.............................................................................................................................Richard Glatzer Produced by........................................................................... Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley ...........................................................................................................Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon .....................................................................................................Michel Litvak, Gary Michael Walters Executive Producers............................................Svetlana Metkina, Norman Merry, Mary Burke Co-Producers.......................................................................................................................Caroline Levy ............................................................................................................Ildikó Kemény, David Minkowski Director of Photography...................................................................................Giles Nuttgens BSC Editor.........................................................................................................................Lucia Zucchetti ACE Original Music by.........................................................................................................Thomas Adès Production Designer..........................................................................................................Michael Carlin Music Supervisor .......................................................................................................... Karen Elliott Costume Designer ......................................................................................................Andrea Flesch Hair & Make-Up Designer.......................................................................................Ivana Primorac Casting by.........................................................................................................................Susie Figgis 2 SHORT SYNOPSIS Unconventional country girl Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette has married charismatic egomaniacal man of letters, fourteen years her senior, known by the single name, ‘Willy.’ Through his auspices, Colette is introduced into the fecund world of the artistic demimonde in Paris where her creative appetite is sparked. Ever quick to capitalise on talent, Willy permits Colette to write her novels only if she does so in his name. The phenomenal success of her Claudine series makes Willy a famous writer and Colette and Willy the first modern celebrity couple. Although they are the toast of the town, lack of recognition for her work begins to gnaw on Colette. Their marriage starts to internally combust, fueled by Willy’s infidelities and Colette’s growing interest in women - particularly her relationship with the non-conforming Marquise de Belbeuf - but emotionally and artistically, she cannot break free of him. On a downward slide, Willy resorts to increasingly desperate measures to pay his debts and sabotage his wife but Colette is developing resources of her own! Set at the dawn of the modern age, COLETTE is the story of a woman who has been denied her voice by an overbearing man, going to extraordinary lengths to find it. LONG SYNOPSIS After falling in love with and marrying a Parisian man of letters, widely known by the single name, “Willy” (Dominic West), Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (Keira Knightley) is transplanted from the tranquil environs of rural, 1890s France to the bustling streets and flourishing salons of turn of the century Paris. Colette adapts to her new life and is absorbed into the intellectual, literary and artistic world of her husband, although she 3 struggles to accept his extra marital affairs. Willy runs an editorial workshop, or factory, where a gaggle of ghost-writers produce fiction under his nom-de-plume. Eventually, Colette herself becomes one of Willy’s “ghosts”, penning a semi- autobiographical novel about a 15-year-old country girl named Claudine. On publication, it becomes not only a huge bestseller but an astonishing cultural sensation, defining a new archetype of the modern age - the teenager. Willy and Colette become the Belle Époque equivalent of a celebrity couple; their personal lives and their sexually adventurous scandals all fueling the subsequent novels. A marketing genius, Willy uses the brand of Claudine to sell ancillary merchandise - from candies to soap - but his refusal to acknowledge his wife’s authorship puts a tremendous strain on their marriage. Colette forms a relationship with the non- conforming aristocrat, the Marquise de Belbeuf or “Missy” (Denise Gough), who pushes her to claim her own artistic voice. But Willy is determined to keep his hold over her and use every psychological weapon in his arsenal to prevent her from breaking free. When she eventually does, he is eclipsed, and Colette is set on the path to becoming one of France’s most famous and beloved literary figures. 4 ABOUT THE PRODUCTION Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette has been a source of inspiration and fascination for countless readers ever since she first rose to fame — and infamy — in early 20th century France. Although Colette’s semi-autobiographical Claudine novels were ghost-written for her exploitative husband, Henry Gauthier-Villars (or ‘Willy’), she broke free of the relationship and became a sensation on her own terms. Chéri (1920) and Gigi (1944) were written under her own name and went on to become beloved novels, the latter of which was adapted into a now iconic musical by MGM in 1958. Unafraid to expose elements of her sometimes-scandalous personal life through thinly veiled fiction, Colette was, says writer/director Wash Westmoreland, “well ahead of the curve.” For almost two decades now, Colette has fascinated and inspired the Yorkshire-born Westmoreland. “For many years I worked with my partner Richard Glatzer, developing scripts and directing together,” he says. “We were co-writers, co-directors and life partners. It was around 1999, Richard started reading a lot of Colette - both her fiction and various biographies - and he got me reading her too. We realized there was a great movie in there, especially if you focus on her first marriage: It was a really pivotal time, the beginning of the modern age - a tectonic shift was happening in gender roles; women were demanding more power in all areas of life and men were resisting, with all their might. All that seemed to be represented through this marriage of two tremendous characters: Colette and Willy.” Eighteen years later, after achieving critical praise for bold and affecting dramas like Quinceañera (2006) and Still Alice (2014), Westmoreland has finally brought Colette’s story to the big screen with his most ambitious movie yet, though it is also his first solo directing credit on a feature. Sadly, his partner Richard passed away due to complications from ALS on 10 March, 2015, just two weeks after he saw his Still Alice star Julianne Moore win an Oscar for her brilliant performance as a woman suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s disease. “Colette is a fantastic story that I thought was so relevant,” says Pamela Koffler of Killer Films, which produced Westmoreland and Glatzer’s previous two movies, as well as Colette. “I also felt it was about a very well-known artist whose real story I don’t think a lot of people truly know.” 5 For producer Elizabeth Karlsen of Number 9 Films, the story’s biggest appeal was that “it is a female-driven narrative, about a woman who was incredibly important in terms of the history of women’s literature and politics. She questioned social mores, sexuality, gender. She was a game-changer.” But, Karlsen adds, “it is funny as well, with a lot of wit and warmth.” It is certainly a subject that Westmoreland holds close to his heart, having developed it for so long in partnership with Glatzer. For Keira Knightley, the Oscar-nominated actor Westmoreland chose to embody Colette, his passion for the project was nothing less than inspiring. “Wash’s attachment to Colette is huge,” she says. “Huge, huge, huge.