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If I were Saul Dibb, director of The Duchess (Paramount, 9.19), I would have changed my name the day I decided to become a filmmaker. Saul Dibb could be an architect, a restaurant owner, a tailor, a stockbroker, the owner of a roofing company, a garment-district clothier, a cab driver or even a stage director, but something doesn't feel quite right about a guy with that name delivering an upscale period piece aimed at the ladies. It seems to somehow diminish that sexy, elegant 18th Century vibe that films of this sort are supposed to deliver.
Keira Knightley
No comment on the film itself, mind -- I'm just saying that "Dibb" rhymes with "bib," "fib" and "squib." I wouldn't want to see a Barry Lyndon-era romance directed by Maury Schlotnik, Sidney Schwartz, Lenny Bruce or Mort Sahl either.
A guy in the business (not a journalist) recently caught up with The Duchess and called it "a commercially serviceable but cinematically unremarkable piece of faux lit-chick (chicklit?) fare, with all possible Diana/Charles analogies brought to the fore and spelled out in boldface.
"Keira Knightley acquits herself capably, though it's not much of a stretch or progression following on from her strong performance in Atonement. Those who enjoyed Jason Schwartzman's performance as an Emotionally Bored Royal With One Expression (in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette) will be happy to know that Duchess costar Ralph Fiennes has taken note and upped him, though at least has the benefit of adding Sexual Predator to the character arc. (Plus the dude's in shape. Men's Health, call his agent.)
"It'll make money. Women and girls will probably dig it. But anyone who has the film on their Oscar charts needs to arrange a revision, aside, perhaps, for the pretty costumes."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 19, 2008 at 8:23 AM
comment #1
Joshua Mooney says ...
How about Muad'Dib? It's pretty close already, and the ladies love "Dune." Actually, Jeff, "Stanley Kubrick" didn't scare me away from "Barry Lyndon." You're just being silly.
Posted by Joshua Mooney at August 19, 2008 9:39 AM
comment #2
gruver1 says ...
Wells to Mooney: The name Stanley Kubrick sounds like a British historian, a Las Vegas gambler, an art dealer, a classic-car connoisseur, the owner of a New Orleans cathouse or a member of the House of Lords. For whatever reason, the name "Kubrick" sounds learned, thoughtful, discriminating. Saul Dibb is the ordinary-looking guy across the street who runs a bakery and whose wife left him a few months ago. I'm not being silly at all. Names have pedigrees, personalities, auras.
Posted by gruver1 at August 19, 2008 9:46 AM
comment #3
Joshua Mooney says ...
Jeff, I see now that you are quite serious. Or not. "Stanley Kubrick" still sounds like a chess nerd from the Bronx to me. My first and middle names, "Joshua David" come from the Old Testament, because that's how mother rolled, and my last name comes from approximately the third-- though certainly not the last-- man my crazy paternal grandmother married, a drunken Irish sea captain I never met, who legally adopted dad. (Yet I haven't a drop of Irish in me, unless I've been at the Black Bush.) Otherwise, I would have been blessed with a most ancient and distinguished tag. I wouldn't change my name, though, as then I'd have to live up to it. Better to stay under the radar as Mooney. Plus, how would all my exes track me down? If they had to?
Posted by Joshua Mooney at August 19, 2008 10:15 AM
comment #4
AndrewOwens says ...
All he needs is one great movie and we'll describe these films as "Saul Dibb-esque". However, based on that review, the expression might become HE code for "another unremarkable Keira period piece".
Posted by AndrewOwens at August 19, 2008 10:15 AM
comment #5
hatchetface says ...
It's sorta disturbing to see a women in a corset without a hint of cleavage to show for it.
Posted by hatchetface at August 19, 2008 10:15 AM
comment #6
lazarus says ...
I have to agree with Jeff here. While Stanley and Saul are somewhat-interchangable bookish names, Kubrick sounds pretty iconic. It's bold, it's different, it sounds like something that could have been used to name the monolith in 2001 ("We've found a giant Kubrick on the surface of the moon!").
But Dibb? It's not even sunny, regular-guy modest like Walter Mitty. It really has failure or mediocrity written all over it. I'm picturing some tailor in one of those basement-entrance businesses who dreams of being a symphony conductor, pretending to direct the players with his needles, but then sighs in despair each time he snaps out of one of his daydreams.
Posted by lazarus at August 19, 2008 10:22 AM
comment #7
Count Thread says ...
Actually, my first thought was Mooney's-- is it pronounced Dibb or Deeb?
Because Saul Dib (pronounced Deeb) *is* a kick-ass name, in part to the Maud'dib reference, and also because it's exotic.
But yes, just plain "Dibb" isn't much on the ears.
That said, Wells's larger point-- that names have an "aura"-- is correct. For example, I hate any last name you can't easily make into a possessive. It's like having soft eyes, or looking like an old lesbian.
Posted by Count Thread at August 19, 2008 10:44 AM
comment #8
storymark says ...
Quite possibly the most shallow diss of a movie I've seen here. And from Captain Thread-count - no mustache - no fatties - that's saying a lot.
Posted by storymark at August 19, 2008 10:48 AM
comment #9
corey3rd says ...
The name sounds too much like a lame Dune character. He should have at least a good nickname to work with his name. Perhaps His Royal Highness Saul Dibb
Posted by corey3rd at August 19, 2008 10:52 AM
comment #10
bmcintire says ...
It's too bad McG is already taken, becuase that name is fucking CLASSY.
Posted by bmcintire at August 19, 2008 11:34 AM
comment #11
Mgmax says ...
"Saul Dibb" does have a weird sound to it, like a character in a not very good indie. "And Michael Parks as Saul Dibb."
That said, the movies were built on opening credits with lush romantic music, silk backgrounds, elegant script type... and the words "Produced by Irving J. Finkleman".....
Posted by Mgmax at August 19, 2008 12:27 PM
comment #12
Joshua Mooney says ...
I do agree with Jeff that names have "auras," blah blah blah. Sometimes, they determine your destiny, but often not, or else "Roger Bannister" wouldn't have broken the 4-minute mile mark.
I now believe that Saul Dibb should change his name to Solon Debucher. Pronounced "Deh-boo-shay." Then he, too, could sound like a cat-house connoisseur. Either that, or SanDeE* O. Warhola. The "O" doesn't stand for anyting, just like Roger O. Thornhill and David O. Selznick.
Posted by Joshua Mooney at August 19, 2008 1:19 PM
comment #13
bmcintire says ...
Hmm. "Maury Schlotnik, Sidney Schwartz, Lenny Bruce or Mort Sahl" and now "Irving J. Finkleman." I'm not exactly sure of the entomology behind Dibb, but I'm wondering if Jeffrey (and others) would be having this problem if his last name was Wellstein?
Posted by bmcintire at August 19, 2008 1:23 PM
comment #14
erniesouchak says ...
Those hairdos are even more off-putting than Dibb's name.
Posted by erniesouchak at August 19, 2008 3:11 PM
comment #15
moviemaniac2002 says ...
Just saw the trailer for this...10 seconds into
it, I wanted to take a nap. The only thing keeping
me awake....wondering how Knightly(who
probably weighs 92 pounds) has the strength
to support that never ending collection of
horrifying wedding-cake wigs.
Forget waterboarding...Guantanamo Bay
suspects would spill everything if they were
forced to watch this film and "The Other Boleyn
Girl" back to back.
Posted by moviemaniac2002 at August 19, 2008 6:51 PM
comment #16
Josh Massey says ...
Shekhar Kapur's original name?
Morty Bluss.
Posted by Josh Massey at August 19, 2008 7:18 PM
comment #17
Zoidberg says ...
I have been interested in this film for some time....
And I've always thought the same thing about Dibb's name. Sound more to me like the name of some kind of painter, or children's book author.
Posted by Zoidberg at August 19, 2008 8:20 PM
comment #18
hiviper says ...
bmcintire,
yeah, I'm getting that scent too
Posted by hiviper at August 19, 2008 10:55 PM
comment #19
Rodrigo says ...
I have to applause Jeff's audacity in a post wholly dedicated to expressing discontent for someone's name, and I must agree that the name Saul Dibb -- it's the last name, really -- sounds a little doofy. I'm sure he's capable, though, as Paramount Vantage announced a certain prestige sheen for "The Duchess" with the costume-parading teaser they released in front of "There Will Be Blood" in theaters last winter, which suggests they mean business with this one. Keira Knightley has become the strongest presence in period films today -- with "Atonement" and "Silk" last year, the latter bomb sharing a similar release date with "The Duchess," three corseted "Pirates" pictures, "Pride and Prejudice" and the laughable attempt to update "King Arthur" for a new generation -- as she hasn't made a modern film since "Domino," and even that was set in decades past. Perhaps she should rip out of her bodice once in a while and step into the present tense...I suppose the success or failure of "The Duchess" will determine as much. That said, following the underwhelming reception of "Brideshead Revisited," a just-okay adaptation that could have been a masterpiece, costume-hungry older folks might line up in surprising number for Dibb's "Duchess" if the finished product belies its director's name and delivers as big as its heroine's hair.
Posted by Rodrigo at August 20, 2008 10:01 AM
comment #20
Bob Violence says ...
I'm not exactly sure of the entomology behind Dibb
Large compound eyes and mandibles used for tearing its prey into smaller, more manageable pieces.
Posted by Bob Violence at August 22, 2008 10:08 AM
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