In the hype surrounding The Duchess, much has been made of the parallels between the film's subject, Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, and her real-life direct descendant, Princess Diana. But Georgiana (played by period piece habitué Keira Knightley) does not need the Diana hook, and her story is very much her own. Advantageously married at 17 to the Duke of Devonshire (a cold, complicated Ralph Fiennes), Georgiana became famous for her style and charisma. Though there's no shortage of drama at play here, there are long stretches that move very slowly--fortunately, it's a handsome film (and at times impressively racy). Besides, it pays off, gradually becoming a surprisingly substantial and anguished damning of the gilded cages in which women of Georgiana's ilk were kept--used as baby machines, manipulated with threats of separation from their children, and forced to endure humiliation. by Marjorie Skinner