Movie review: Marie Antoinette.
Oct 26th, 2006 by Kate
Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette.
As a movie, it was atrocious. As eye candy, it was astounding.
Last night I took myself on a date to see Sofia Coppola’s lavish film adaptation of the life of the French Queen Marie Antoinette at North Park Mall. The movie was terrible. It was very disjointed, most of the characters were never introduced to the audience so unless you were a M.A. expert or super nerdy history buff you had no idea who they were or what was going on. And then the movie just ended. Marie’s execution by guillotine during the French Revolution wasn’t even mentioned. So for all we know, the king and queen fled Versailles, rode off into the sunset and lived happily ever after in exile. Hell, I’m fairly familiar with the story and I was still left confused. Hardly anyone said a word throughout the whole movie! Coppola could’ve done a better job in connecting and explaining the story line instead of just showing sumptuous images of Marie’s champagne-guzzling, her 24/7 food orgies and her addiction to fine fabrics, hair styles, shoes and dresses. There was a mixing of accents, languages and it was all very confusing. Some times they’d speak in French, some times with some sort of British accent, there was no cohesion. This lack of attention to detail drove me crazy throughout the movie.
But the lavish attention to detail in the costumes, architecture and every single aspect of the films production was absolutely amazing. The colors were vibrant, the materials rich and the mood was quite extravagant, which only served to emphasize the queen’s outrageous spending habits that played a role in sending the country in a downward spiral. There is also a very Baz Lurman like presentation of 21st-century American music in 18th-century France including a weird kind of calypso soundtrack to her buying binges and a sort of punk-funk disco-techno hop at her coronation. When done well, modern elements can add a fresh air to an old story. I also thought Kirsten Dunst looked very cute, and I’m not really a huge fan of hers. Jason Schwartzman was cast in his usual awkward youth role, but he has mastered character and played Louis XVI well.
Coppola’s movie was booed at Cannes, and I almost considered walking out. Had it not been for the ridiculously expensive ticket (that’s what you get for going to see a movie at North Park) and the amazing costumes, I probably would have. The only other thing it really did for me besides make me drool over the lifestyle was re-emphasize my desire to have kids some day.
One of the cool things about Marie and me: we have the same birthday. She turns 251 and I turn 22 one week from today.
Let them eat cake.