'Colette' Makes History at the Fall KCET Cinema Series on September 4
Q&A immediately following with director Wash Westmoreland.
"The hand that holds the pen writes history." In the case of this historic drama that hand belongs to Gabrielle Sidonie Colette (Keira Knightley), a young woman from a French country village who marries 'Willy' (Dominic West)… a charismatic, dominating Parisian. He convinces his much younger wife to write a novel (to be published under his name) and she turns out a series of phenomenally successful novels which makes them a celebrity couple in bohemian Paris and Willy a well-known writer. When Colette becomes frustrated with the lack of recognition for her work, domestic bliss turns to infidelity and a struggle for creative ownership.
For almost two decades now, “Colette” has fascinated and inspired the Yorkshire-born Wash Westmoreland. “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 Glazer passed away due to complications from ALS on March 10, 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” premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and will be released in theaters on September 21 by Bleeker Street. The film’s director Wash Westmoreland will be in attendance for a Q&A session immediately following the screening with host and Deadline film critic Pete Hammond, who can also be seen in KCET’s Must See Movies. The fall season of the KCET Cinema Series is generously sponsored by Deadline.com. The season began on August 14 and runs through October 9. Season passes are available online via Eventbrite and individual admissions are available at the door for $30 each.
