Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Friday 21 September 2018
In 'Colette,' a literary great is finally unbound

By JAKE COYLE movie. Westmoreland ("Still
Associated Press Alice"), along with co-writ-
Wash Westmoreland's "Co- ers Richard Glatzer (West-
lette" is a very British movie moreland's late husband)
about a very French femi- and Rebecca Lenkiewicz,
nist icon. A handsome and have judiciously opted to
lively period film, it's too concentrate on Colette's
timid to capture the rav- early period married to
enous appetites of the lit- Gauthier-Villars, when she
erary force that was Sido- wrote the first Claudine
nie-Gabrielle Colette. But books. On the one hand,
with Keira Knightley play- this focus gives "Colette" a
ing the prolific and trail- timely dramatic arc of fe-
blazing author, "Colette" male empowerment: This
has nimbly condensed an is when she not only finds
un-condensable life into a her voice but eventually
sprightly and self-evidently takes control of it. On the
relevant biopic. other, it frames Colette's life
"My name is Claudine, I too much around Gauth-
live in Montigny; I was born ier-Villars; he is there from
there in 1884; I shall prob- the first scenes to the final
ably not die there." ones. And in West's hands,
Those were the first lines in he's a gloriously bombastic
"Claudine à l'école," the This image released Bleecker Street shows Denise Gough, left, and Keira Knightley in a scene from character, forever ducking
1900 coming-of-age novel "Colette." creditors, carousing with
that made the Burgundy- Associated Press women and prodding his
born Colette's fictional alter ghost writers to keep his lit-
ego, Claudine, a sensation, Colette was writing under death, at the Palais-Royal, a riot) and dozens of books, erary factor churning. At a
as well as a highly lucrative her own name, though in 1954. Along the way, she including 1944's "Gigi," writ- low ebb, he encourages
industry. It was, however, once she did, she quick- blazed a relentlessly un- ten while her third husband Colette to write. Though
published under the nom ly established herself as, conventional path through was interned by the Nazis. impressed by the results, he
de plume of her husband among many other things, Belle Epoque Paris, leaving To play its protagonist in a initially judges them uncom-
("Willy"), the rakish pub- one of France's greatest behind a litany of affairs stage adaption, Colette mercial and "too feminine."
lisher Henry Gauthier-Villars authors. She was nomi- (with men and women), found an unknown named ''Too many adjectives," he
(played by Dominic West in nated for a Nobel Prize in scandals of all sorts (an on- Audrey Hepburn. says. Their scenes together
the film). literature in 1948 and given stage kiss with a woman at So, sure, try getting all that sparkle with quick-witted
It would be years before a state funeral after her the Moulin Rouge sparked (and much more) into a dialogue. q

Macy Gray is enthusiastic,

infectious on fun 'Ruby'

By PABLO GORONDI
Associated Press
Macy Gray, "Ruby" (Artistry
Music)
Macy Gray sounds mainly
joyful and enthusiastic on
"Ruby" and the zest evident
across her 10th album,
even when the theme is
misfortune or heartbreak,
is infectious. Her trademark
jazzy soul and R&B foun-
dations are accounted
for but the arrangements
have a deceptively light
touch and let Gray's vocals
and effervescent personal-
ity shine through.
Opener "Buddha" features
a guitar solo by Gary Clark
Jr. and background vocals
with a gospel feel, alter-
nating an uplifting refrain
This cover image released by Artistry Music shows "Ruby," a re-
lease by Macy Gray. of being "alright now" with
Associated Press the knowing "our days are
numbered."q