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Amazon.co.uk Reviews
While much was made of the fact that Marie Antoinette elicited boos at Cannes, the many favorable reviews attracted less attention. Inspired by Antonia Fraser's biography, Sofia Coppola fashions a portrait that's just as dreamy as The Virgin Suicides, her first literary adaptation, and the Oscar-winning Lost in Translation. Set to a soundtrack of post-punk (a conceit that adds more interest than resonance), the teenaged Marie (Kirsten Dunst, quite good) may be shallow, but she's rarely unsympathetic. The story begins in the late-18th century as the Austrian Archduchess agrees to marry Louis-Auguste (Jason Schwartzman). After bidding adieu to her mother, Maria Theresa (Marianne Faithfull), she travels to France, where King Louis XV (Rip Torn) sets the rules--and the list is endless (Judy Davis' Comtesse de Noailles is the primary enforcer). As for the Dauphin, he's just a boy, really, with more interest in his key collection than their marriage bed. Should Marie produce an heir, it might be enough to sustain her--since life is nothing but an endless shopping spree--but clouds gather on the horizon as an impoverished populace rises up against their extravagant leaders. Coppola merely suggests what happens next, although history paints a darker picture. Filmed in and around the Chateau of Versailles, Marie Antoinette is a riot of rustling gowns, sparkling jewels, and Manolo Blahnik-designed shoes. To say that style trumps substance does its maker a disservice, but the look of the thing does leave the deepest impression. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's a movie about a teenager - who happened to be Queen.,
By Mr. Stephen Kennedy "skenn1701a" (Doha, Qatar) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Marie Antoinette [DVD] [2006] [2007] (DVD)
It's not perfect, but it's a much better piece of cinema than its critics would have you believe. In fact, what is created here is a deliciously personal movie about a historical figure - made not as an epic, but as an intimate and `in-the-moment' portrayal of a teenager in over her head.
It's the first key to liking this movie - it is a teen-movie. Not for them but about one. As such, all we are seeing is how Marie Antoinette must have seen her life. A young teenager put into a political arranged marriage as the Dauphine of France, she has to leave all behind and finds herself in an intolerable situation (an unconsummated marriage - for 7 years!) with no frame of reference. That's the second key to liking it - it is about her removal from a sense of reality - Versaille is geographically, politically, socially and economically isolated from the reality of France, until the tragic end. (a tragic end which the movie stops just before, incidentally). This lack of a reality touchstone sends the teenager into spirals of excess - and yet Kirsten Dunst finds new depths in portraying her as indulgent, and yet sincere. Petulant yet patient and revelling in luxury, yet loyal regardless of cost. The movie itself has been criticised for having discordant elements - modern (and 80's) music, hand held camera movements, brighter than bright colours - and yet this is highly effective at making this story real, and not a historical document - exactly what Sofia Coppola was trying to achieve. One scene which exemplifies this, is the masked ball - an occasion which should in most period movies would be starchy and elegant - but here is almost like a night club or a rave with pounding soundtrack - and this is precisely the excitement and impression this occasion would have engendered in a spoilt and privileged teenager. Finally, the other ingredients (an apt turn of phrase since everything looks like candy) that complete the feel of the movie - the set design and the music. The film was given complete access to Versaille, which makes the location vivid and real - and yet in set design the filmmakers have made these places not a museum, but a real vibrant place home to many. And of course all the wonderful bright and pastel shades made so that `everything looks like cake' are terrific to watch. And then the music - apart from the occasional pop song as mentioned before, the music actually evokes various moods - from the lyrical simplicity of rural France, to melancholy similar in tone to the soundtrack of Lost in Translation, through to modern beats - it's a brilliant and imaginative score. Top marks to Coppola - I preferred this even to Lost in Translation. It certainly won't be to everyones taste and best rented than bought - but it is a uniquely personal movie deserving a viewing so you can make up your own mind.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
While it may not be historically accurate, it's entertaining as hell.,
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This review is from: Marie Antoinette [DVD] [2006] [2007] (DVD)
When I sit down to watch a historical film that takes itself seriously I expect it to be accurate. Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette doesn't take itself very serious, which is why it works so well as the story of a teenage girl. Beautiful performances, direction. The sets and costumes are gorgeous, and the use of contemporary music works extremely well (which was something I worried about a lot, but I was proven wrong). Definitely worth a watch, and a rewatch. I recently bought the book which this film is based upon, and I'm looking forward to getting the more detailed story of Marie-Antoinette's troubled life.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beauifully shot and touching but not quite fully engaging,
By
This review is from: Marie Antoinette [DVD] [2006] [2007] (DVD)
I really enjoy Sofia Copolla's films and the aesthetic she evokes. Everything that you would expect from Lost in Translation and the Virgin Suicides is present here; closely observed character, 'total environmental immersion' film-making, an effortlessly tranquil and subversive soundtrack and refined performances from the cast. Unlike some reviewers, I felt Copolla's mixture of modernity and period sensibility is both respectful to the material and engaging. As with her other films, there remains an emotional distance between character and viewer - in part this provides greater intimacy between the two as we observe characters undertaking the mundane without needless exposition. It always struck me in Copolla's earlier films, however, that the remoteness was balanced against the vulnerability of characters when they do engage in meaningful discourse and it was this flowering of the characters that made the films so charming. This was far less evident to me in Marie Antoinette and therefore, I can only give it four stars; a refreshing and touching movie but one that never quite lets you in.
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