Marie Antoinette – Fall 2006
Review originally published in SBU's The Statesman
(This review has been updated with better grammar from the originally published version. Significant changes are noted with strikethroughs and/or asterisks. Updated and additional notes are further below.)
"I love and dislike this film. It was a visual masterpiece but historically questionable. Sofia Coppola wanted to make a film that was uncommon, contemporary, and fun. She wanted the viewer to question what they had learned in history class; Marie Antoinette was not the spoiled oblivious monarch but a misunderstood teenager thrust into one of Europe's most unforgiving environments. In these respects she succeeded but also failed in many important ways. While it provides a different perspective to the infamous Dauphine, I can't help but think of it as too childish and something to further the glorification of today's selfish and reckless rich teenagers. (*Two feature films/five-years later she'd take that same theme to direct The Bling Ring (2013).)
The story begins as Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) wakes on the morning she is to leave home for the long journey to and permanent stay at Versailles. At the border of France and Austria she says good-bye to her friends, puppy, and clothes to be given new. When Marie arrives to meet her fiance, a 16-year old Louis XVI, she is dressed in French fashion with all the hope and anxiousness a 14-year old should have. The attraction between them is almost non-existent and this is how it will remain for the rest of their lives together and apart. After many attempts to seduce Louis XVI and under great pressure by her mother, Versailles, and all of France, immediately birthing a male heir goes unaccomplished for more than seven years into their marriage. Overhearing and ignoring the unadulterated gossip while still keeping up appearances during this time and afterwards provides the conflict for much of the film. The psychological effects of enforced high expectations forces her to act even more childish by wasting money on expensive shopping sprees and extensive gambling. Later she takes on a handsome Swedish soldier (*Jamie Dornan!) to feel better and finally experience pleasure. But as she ages and understands her responsibilities she accepts them with more maturity.
The opening music had me tapping my feet and moving in my chair while the opening credits were in hot pink font. This was to be no ordinary historical presentation. And then in the blink of an eye Marie is getting a pedicure and surrounded by cakes. This first shot sets the atmosphere for the rest of the film. Every scene featuring Marie never fails to show her world through colored frosting and mouthwatering pastries. The efforts of mise-en-scene have gone above and beyond. The chosen color palate was a mixture of those used for ballet costumes and feminine 80s wear. When the story focuses on Marie's time at her private chateau or while following Louis XVI on his hunts the colors are perfectly natural. "The idea was to capture in the design the way in which I imagined the essence of Marie Antoinette's spirit...So the film's candy colors, its atmosphere and the teenaged music all reflect and are meant to evoke how I saw that world. She was in a total silk and cake world, " explains Sofia Coppola (*in press materials available at the time.) The soundtrack is a compilation of unimpressive pop with lyrics and well-fitting arranged instrumental scores.
What is this film's best success is how captivating each shot is. The setup, the angles, the colors, the light, the clothing and accessories, the hair and makeup are all perfectly executed. They rapture the senses. It would be impossible to single out a favorite caption because the whole movie is like an animated photo album. The camera spent just enough time following its subject. There is no doubt the director's vision was understood by her crew and how well they must have worked together. They deserve as much praise for their visual product.
