MovieChat Forums > The Duke of Burgundy (2015) Discussion > choice of actors

choice of actors

posted 9 years ago by brnk4
4 replies | jump to latest

Despite the GREAT camerawork, despite the great story, despite all the tension, despite the sensual eroticism, despite the amazing dreamy sequences and spot on montages... I couldn't enjoy this film because of the two main actors.

At first I thought wow, what a relationship, there must be surely something underneath here, as they were sometimes quite theatrical, you don't need that on film when you got different kind of shots helping your play, and their way of speaking/using their voice just didn't have that... edge, or whatever. Then, as the film progressed, I was like oh wow, how cool, it's got layers and all! But as the film went on, I couldn't really see any development or highs or lows in their presence. It's not drama I wanted to see, I didn't want them to start fighting all of a sudden. It's that both of them felt senseless, lifeless... The way they delivered their lines just wasn't credible to me.

Not sure if I managed to express myself right. I was just wondering if anyone else noticed something about their acting.

[–] e-a-verheij 8 years ago

I felt the exact same way, this film could have been really good, but i didn't like the 2 main actresses, the woman with the blonde wig however was VERY intriguing. If that actress had a bigger role in the movie it would have changed the whole film.

I did not feel a connection between the main characters. The story, the setting and everything is trying to show you how incredibly intertwined these two people are, how they are dependent on each other.. But i don't feel it at all. Like you said: they seemed lifeless.

Maybe that was a choice by the director, maybe they were supposed to seem lifeless to show how stuck they are in their relationship but it just didn't quite work in my opinion.

[–] cheeso65 7 years ago

It's that both of them felt senseless, lifeless

Since that's part of the point of the whole thing, I think the two leads did a great job of conveying that.

[–] agentalbert (2293) 2 years ago

I disagree. I thought the two main actors were great in their roles, particularly Sidse Babbet Knudsen. There is something so sensual about her, just the way she moves, walks, crosses her legs, pulls on her stockings. Of course it becomes less so as you see more and more how she's not into their games, but that's intentional.

[–] Jes' Sayin' (5943) 4 months ago

If you didn't see any development, you must not have been paying close attention to the subtleties because they're there.