The film is about Georgiana Spencer, the Duchess of Devonshire, who helped usher in sweeping changes to England as the leader of the forward-thinking Whig Party. The film's makers call her "the original 'It Girl'".
"The Duchess is the story of an extraordinary woman who rose to fame by staying true to her passions in a world of protocol, gossip and social rules - and paid the price," according to the website for the film.
The director Saul Dibb didn't just want a costume drama, but was more interested in the strained relationship between the Duchess, played by Keira Knightley, and the Duke, played by Ralph Fiennes, says Pados.
The costume drama was Dibb's first, but Pados counts among his credits the classic UK costume drama The Heart of Me as well as the Hungarian director Lajos Koltai's Evening.
The Duchess was shot in nine weeks, Pados says. But shooting took place only for three or four hours a day. The rest of the time was devoted to makeup and getting into costume. It took four hours alone to do star Knightley's hair and an hour and a half to put on her makeup.
Pados called Knightley's professionalism, talent, intelligence "amazing".
Pados also had high praise for Fiennes. "Ralph Fiennes, who plays the Duke of Devonshire, is half an aristocrat himself....there are very few actors who could have played (the role) as well as he did."
The film's main locations - the duke and duchess's estates in Devonshire, Chatsworth and Bath - were reconstructed at eight different venues. The current Duke and Duchess of Devonshire even consulted on the shooting.
Pados complained, however, about the big and dark spaces, and the short days, which required, at times, the construction of 18 ten-metre-high lighting towers.
The Bafta nominations will be announced on January 15. The prizes will be presented on February 8.
The Duchess has already racked up box office receipts of USD 20m in the UK and has been nominated for a Golden Globe.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
