And it was those films — rather than the aberration of Love Actually , or the misfire of Domino , which cut her hair into a shaggy pixie, or the overwrought mindfuck of The Jacket both released in — that established the foundation of her image, as an actor who seemed most at home in decades other than our own. This understanding of Knightley was made possible, at least in part, by her own fiercely maintained privacy.
She regularly appeared in fashion shoots, but in the interviews inside the magazine, she rarely disclosed substantive details of her offscreen life. Unlike contemporary stars like Jennifer Lawrence, whose carefree, cool girl femininity feels so incredibly of this moment that it makes her seem woefully out of place in a period drama like Serena , Knightley has always felt on some level outside of contemporary ideology, unwilling to heed the demands put upon her peers.
Even the ads she did for Chanel , some set in the past, others set in rarified worlds foreign to ours, made it seem like she was breathing different air than the rest of us. The roles Knightley has chosen since — playing the tragic heroine of Anna Karenina , a turn-of-the-century psychological patient in A Dangerous Method , and now a turn-of-the-century French writer in Colette — have only emphasized that perception of her.
But the violence committed against them is not their defining characteristic; their resilience is. She is not relegated to the role of love interest; men are. Romances, marriages, children, and dalliances are all secondary to her own development — as a woman, but also as the protagonist in her own life story, no matter how tragic it may become. That worked out. She got an agent at six; was in Star Wars at 13 and Pirates of the Caribbean at 17; won an Oscar nomination for Pride and Prejudice at 20 and another, 10 years later, for The Imitation Game.
Second, a man. A big blue frock juts out from under her like a nest. They were in charge and, obviously, the men were in charge outside. Knightley scrunches her face: a chipmunk photobombing a supermodel.
Still, she was a grade-A tomboy: no skirts, leading a protest at school until girls were allowed to play football. Of course, when you grow up you are, but you still want to have the adventures. I feel like I sit somewhere else. I look quizzical. Being able to do that standing up: so convenient. You can just whip it out and whatever. Generally, it can be tricky encouraging stars away from unpacking art to chatting genitals.
Twitter entered white-heat mode. Thinkpieces were spewed out like ticker tape. But when asked about it again a fortnight later, instead of calming the waters, she went in with a whisk: doubling down on her argument with some PhD-level Disney princess knowledge. My God, people feel really strongly. Her fans will end you. Anyway, back to Colette. On both occasions, she was polite and hard to dislike. And yet dislike her women do.
Female jealousy is a form of lust, the desire to know every inch of a beautiful woman in the same way that a man wants to through sex. But this lust is more powerful than the male kind, and is what has propelled Knightley to her position as a fashion figurehead, role model and Hollywood actress. What's surprising is that she doesn't seem to generate a voraciousness in men. Ask them why and they will tell you that there is something too poised, too static about her face - and not enough vulgarity in that angular body.
Ask either sex whether they set much store by Knightley's acting skills, however, and the response is unanimously tepid. With commendable modesty, the actress has herself admitted that she is "still improving". Yet it's hard to imagine how far she can do so when you consider that, aside from Bend it Like Beckham , in which the then year-old displayed a promise that has yet to be realised, she has always been given the role of the petulant beauty Love Actually , Pride and Prejudice , Silk , Atonement.
Home energy upgrades are now more important than ever. Commenting on The Irish Times has changed. To comment you must now be an Irish Times subscriber.
The account details entered are not currently associated with an Irish Times subscription. Please subscribe to sign in to comment. You should receive instructions for resetting your password.
When you have reset your password, you can Sign In. Please choose a screen name. This name will appear beside any comments you post. Your screen name should follow the standards set out in our community standards.
Screen Name Selection. Only letters, numbers, periods and hyphens are allowed in screen names. Please enter your email address so we can send you a link to reset your password. Your Comments. Sign In Sign Out. We reserve the right to remove any content at any time from this Community, including without limitation if it violates the Community Standards.
We ask that you report content that you in good faith believe violates the above rules by clicking the Flag link next to the offending comment or by filling out this form.
New comments are only accepted for 3 days from the date of publication. Movie Quiz. Subscriber Only. Putting the Rabbit in the Hat by Brian Cox: ticking the boxes. What should any one of us be expected to do to avert climate catastrophe?
0コメント