Marie Antoinette

Before I begin this review, we need to get one thing straight. I love Marie Antoinette the person. Being something of a history buff, I’ve always been fascinated by 18th century European monarchs: the opulence, the over-indulgence, the utter cluelessness as to what was going on outside the walls of their palaces. And of these rulers, Marie Antoinette has always been the most fascinating to me.

Her story is one of riches to rags; betrothed to the young Dauphin of France, she waits seven years before her marriage is consummated. After having her first child, she has her husband build her a cottage on the outskirts of Versailles, where she cheats on him. The events leading up to her eventual downfall and execution contain enough plotlines to fill up 39 trashy novels; how many other historical figures can make that claim? But, my bias aside, let’s talk about the film.

Marie Antoinette has come to be remembered as one of the most villainous monarchs in history. But Sofia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette suggests that maybe this should not be the case. Although she was one of history’s most notorious big spenders, draining the French treasury on lavish parties and haut couture, it could have all been a product of her environment. She was doing what so many queens had done before her; Marie Antoinette was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This film is a character study about why Marie Antoinette might have been so foolish. In the opening scene, the young Antoine (Kirsten Dunst) kisses her mother the Empress Maria Teresa goodbye on her way to become the Dauphine of France. This naïve teen girl makes her way by carriage toward France, and in an elaborate hand-over ceremony where she is stripped of everything Austrian (including her dog) she emerges Marie Antoinette. She was just a teenager when she left for Versailles. At an age when most modern day people aren’t even old enough to wake up without the help of their mothers, Marie Antoinette was shipped to a foreign land and forced into a marriage with a person she had never met (Louis XVI, played by Jason Schwartzman of I Heart Huckabees). It must have been terrifying! She and her husband were forced to grow up fast, and as the film suggests, this was one of the reasons that they met their ultimate demise. Neither of them were ready to take on the responsibility of a ruler, and they met their deaths because of it.

I started reading Antonia Frasier’s Marie Antoinette: The Journey (the biography on which this film was based) last summer; unfortunately, college reading took over and I never got a chance to finish the book. But I remembered vivid scenes from my reading as I watched this film, and from what I could tell this was a pretty historically accurate representation of the court of Versailles and the life of Marie Antoinette. Coppola did a nice job of keeping the film close to life. But even while keeping it historically accurate Coppola gives the film a modern twist, juxtaposing modern rock music (i.e. “Whatever Happened” by the Strokes) next to the harpsichord tunes of the day. The opening sequence has a feeling of rock star glory with hot pink credits rolling over a black background and Gang of Four’s “Natural’s Not In It” blaring.

Did I mention that the film is gorgeous to watch? The costumes (decadent), the jewels (enormous), the set (The Palace of Versailles). That’s right, Sofia Coppola had special permission from the French government to shoot this film where the actual events took place, inside the walls of Versailles. The elaborate sets that you see were not built for the film – oh no, it is actually where Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI lived. So, if you’ve ever wanted to get a closer look at the Palace of Versailles, I’d suggest you spin this DVD. You will not be disappointed.

But even if the historical aspect doesn’t strike your fancy, Marie Antoinette is beautiful just to watch: the colors, the angles, the lighting. Coppola did an awesome job making this film pleasing to the eyes. A scene that comes to my head when I say this is one of Kirsten Dunst running through a field of flowers at sunset. It’s almost surreal to watch: the close-up shots, the saturated colors and the backlighting. Also, make sure not to watch Marie Antoinette while hungry. Coppola includes many scenes of Kirsten Dunst picking out new clothes and eating decadent pastries. Seeing the food actually made my mouth water. It was all so colorful, so rich, so delicious.

The special features on the DVD are also worth watching. The “Making of Marie Antoinette” featurette is interesting to watch for anyone who wants to know more about the costumes or filming in Versailles. It also gives further explanation to Coppola’s vision of portraying Marie Antoinette as a confused girl rather than a villainous aristocrat. Along with a few deleted scenes and the film’s trailers, the special features are definitely worth watching. The funniest part of the special features section is called “Cribs with Louis XVI.” It follows Jason Schwartzman through the halls of Versailles as if he were on the show MTV Cribs. Not only does it give a better idea of the opulence of a few rooms in Versailles, it is also absolutely hilarious.

I have heard Marie Antoinette criticized for the fact that it tries to be modern while at the same time being historically accurate. However, I believe this is one of the reasons that Marie Antoinette is such a good movie. It takes something we’ve learned about in history books and presents it in a way that is historically accurate, visually pleasing, and enjoyable to watch. Just think of it as the most exciting high school history lesson you wish you could have had. Marie Antoinette is totally worth the two-hour time investment. It’s exciting to watch, and you might even learn something in the process.

- Cole Merkel

Marie Antoinette Official Site
IMDb Listing
Buy the DVD from Amazon

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