Marie Antoinette (2006)

Top comments

1. 

   dorothygale

   It's easy to dish on Marie Antoinette: historians have been doing it for years on end. Much more daring is to praise and understand her - which is what Sofia Coppola does in this colourful movie. It's not a movie about French history, it's a movie about the loneliness of being female. We are invited to see through Marie's eyes: she's an young, inexperienced girl brutally taken from her home and thrown into a realm she new little about, stripped bare and forced to produce an heir with her indifferent husband. Trapped into the court of Versailles, where she has little right of being herself, she directs her bubbly energy into partying and shopping - reminescent of what so many socialites do today. Marie, however, didn't invent such lifestyle: it is shown that the French count already indulged themselves in such excess before Antoinette's arrival, meaning it was but a matter of time until their economy ate itself. Marie Antoinette was a symbol and scapegoat, a victim of the circumstances.
   Coppola does a good job bringing Antoinette's human side to light through luscious photography and pacing: when Marie is excited, the movie's timing is more energetic; when she's bored, the movie drags on. The border scene is a good example of symbolism: Marie has her dog, symbol of her family home, taken away from her, and is told she can have "as many French dogs as she'd like": later in the movie, she is shown to have countless dogs, in a vain effort to replace the one she loved. Still during the border scene, notice how, as she leaves Austria and arrive in France, Marie wears blue: a symbol of her inner sadness. There is more to this movie than pretty costumes if you're willing to look, and understand Marie Antoinette's side of the history. 12 years ago
2. 

   Plithith

   I think this is an under-appreciated film. Not only is it beautifully shot and beautiful to watch, but it tells its story from a fairly historically accurate and interesting perspective. Historically accurate for the time, of course. The soundtrack is also quite good. 12 years 9 months ago
3. 

   kottonen

   An absolutely stunning film, where every frame is worthy of a central place on your wall. I am yet to see Virgin Suicides, but I expect it to have parts that mirror bits of Marie Antoinette (at the very least, Kirsten Dunst in the grass, looking at bugs, escaping people).
   
   Sofia Coppola has a talent for giving you the emotional truth, for using just enough strokes to suggest the whole painting, for kickass soundtracks. It would be worthwhile to compare the historical narrative with the cinematic one here, to not treat the latter as factual, but Coppola's Marie Antoinette was never quite given the time or the reason to grow up. Life is beautiful and full of rules and restrictions, and your only freedom is in the matters which are considered frivolous.
   
   The film was criticised for not providing enough of a historical background, for having the French Revolution just happen. I would think that is a conscious decision: whether the king and the queen were actually drinking tea on a lawn as the Bastille prison was taken over is irrelevant. It is through the omission of other characters, by surrounding the protagonist exclusively with aristocracy and servants (sometimes, aristocratic servants) that we recognise her isolation and the inability to comprehend what's happening outside the court.
   
   The film plays around with the famous saying about cake, pointing out that Marie Antoinette had never actually said that, but providing enough images of pastries to preserve the connection. I love eclairs; should it be a wonder that I loved this? 6 years 11 months ago

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