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Marie Antoinette: A Film by David Grubin

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Marie Antoinette was born November 2, 1755 in Vienna, Austria. She was the youngest and most beautiful daughter of Francis Stephen I and Maria Theresa Emperor and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire. Marie Antoinette was brought up believing her destiny was to become queen of France, the hope of forging an alliance with the two countries. She married the crown prince of France in 1770. Four years later she became queen when her husband was crowned King Louis XVI

One of the most interesting facets of this two-hour special on Marie Antoinette was that she never said the famous line "let them eat cake." In fact, the poor Marie was remarkably naive about the needs of the French peasantry and even about her adopted country. Living in a secluded life in the palace of Versailles, she had never seen the sea and spent most of her short life confined within the walls of the palace and gardens.

This fascinating documentary, which aired on PBS last night - in preparation for Sofia Coppola's big-screen dramatization, starring Kirsten Dunst - expels many of the myths associated with this deeply misunderstood Queen. She was indeed only a child - just fifteen - when her mother Maria Theresa married her off to the teenage Prince Louis.

Naive about the role of a Queen, Marie a woman of great charm and beauty, spent much of her time gambling and partying, spending money from the public coffers, oblivious to who paid for it all. The fact that Louis was Unable to produce a heir was a source of great consternation in the court, and as the years went by with still no child, Marie found an outlet by building a private world on the Versailles grounds, Le Petit Trianon, a private retreat where she could get back to nature.

Children did eventually come, but it didn't help the status of the monarchy, especially in the eyes of the public, who viewed Marie and her moneyed dalliances as responsible for much of the crises in the country. Louis was an incompetent and bumbling King, who found it hard to make decisions. With the political and social ideology of France quickly changing, Louis and Marie were urged to limit their power, and help contribute to forming a constitutional monarchy but they remained stubbornly tied to the strictures of the past.

Marie offended many of the nobles, adding their denunciation to the scandalous stories spread by royal hopefuls. It was the nobility that balked at the financial reforms the government ministers tried to make, not the King and Queen, who were in favor of change. In truth, Antoinette and Louis' fate were sealed by the irrevocable march of history, innocent porn's caught up in the winds of change.

Both Louis and Marie ended up guillotined, but in the meantime Marie grew as a woman, a mother and a monarch, the irony being that she was much more of a Queen when she was stripped of her royal status and awaiting trial in Paris.

Actress Blair Brown narrates this gripping film, while historians Antonia Fraser, Simon Schama, Evelyne Lever, Antoine de Baecque and Fanny Cosandey and novelist Chantal Thomas provide much of the interesting narrative about the tragic life of this beautiful and much misconstrued woman. Mike Leonard September 06.

This documentary on Marie Antoinette was superb. When I turned it on, I was glued to the screen. I accept the fact that this documentary does not show many actors completely acting out a scene, but along with the narrators and original paintings of the past, you can picture the whole story in your mind. In other words, the paintings and the pictures of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI told everything of what had happened. It is just like reading a comic book without text. You can just weave the picture together yourself. I did not regret ordering this two hour film on Marie Antoinette, and I suggest that whoever is interested about France's history, should not miss the life story of Marie Antoinette

I never really given much thought to Marie Antoinette. All I knew about the former queen of France was that she was beheaded after found guilty of various crimes ranging from corruption to treason. After I saw the lifeless Sophia Coppola film "Marie Antoinette", my curiousity about the former queen was piqued. This PBS documentary was aired not too long ago but I missed seeing most of it. I was fortunate to find a copy to rent through the web based rental service I use.

I found "Marie Antoinette" the documentary far more engaging. The life of Marie Antoinette is indeed fascinating. She almost reminds me of Paris Hilton of her day with her lack of intellectual curiousity and love of frivolous spending and other means of pleasure. It is hard not to see the comparison between the deceased queen of France and the current queen of overexposure.

In the PBS documentary, the filmmaker goes further in depth of Marie Antoinette's life after she and Louis tries to leave Paris, France and eventually their gruesome fate at the hands of the guillotine. I would have liked to have heard more about Marie's life prior to her marriage to Louis (like it was covered in thorough detail in Antoina Fraser's book). Blair Brown does a superb job as narrator. I found this documentary extremely well produced and thought out. There are other documentaries on Marie Antoinette but I only imagine that they would be not as good as PBS's two hour documentary on Marie Antoinette. I had fun learning about Marie Antoinette which led me to check out more books and documentaries about the former queen of France.

After listening to Antonia Fraser's excellent and exhaustive biography of Marie Antoinette on audiobook (MARIE ANTOINETTE: THE JOURNEY), I immediately hopped onto Netflix in search of a related documentary or two. The only one to catch my eye was David Grubin's MARIE ANTOINETTE: A FILM. Try as I might, I can't help but critique Grubin's film in relation to Fraser's biography.

Grubin's MARIE ANTOINETTE clocks in at about two hours, compared to the 20+ hour narration of Fraser's MARIE ANTOINETTE. While it might seem unfair to compare the two for this reason alone, they do share a similar story arc and cover much the same ground. In fact, Grubin includes snippets of interviews with several French historians in MARIE ANTOINETTE, one of whom is Antonia Fraser herself!

Given the time limitation, Grubin does a decent enough job of detailing the life and death of Marie Antoinette, starting with her childhood in Vienna, Austria, and ending with her death at the hands of "revolutionaries" in Paris, France. Even so, Grubin barely scratches the surface; for example, though he attempts to examine Marie Antoinette's psychological, social and intellectual development, the audience is only beginning to get a feel for Marie Antoinette the person by film's end. Additionally, Grubin raises a few controversial points - such as Marie Antoinette's relationship with Count Ferson - which is unfortunate, because he's unable to examine points of contention on anything but a superficial level. For example, Fraser dealt with historical controversies by returning to contemporary accounts of the events (diaries, letters, etc.), detailing various modern views on the issue, and then concluding with her own reasoned interpretation of the evidence. Grubin simply doesn't have enough time to do the same.

On the plus side, Grubin's film boasts one momentous advantage over Fraser's (audio)book - visual aids! Grubin interlaces interviews and narration with video and stills for stunning visual effects. MARIE ANTOINETTE: A FILM highlights a number of contemporary images, including portraits of Marie Antoinette and her friends and family, as well as scores of pages from then-scandalous pamphlets and propaganda - much of which contains nudity and sketches of a sexual nature (thankfully, none is censored). Grubin juxtaposes modern video of historical places - Versailles, Le Petit Trianon, Vienna - with these historical images, thus allowing the audience access to the places significant to Madame Antoine's child- and adulthood.

Additionally, I thought that Grubin's recounting of the French Revolution was more linear and easier to follow than was Fraser's. Fraser interspersed her accounts of the revolutionary political climate in France with its effects on Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI, while Grubin offered a lean - but informative - summary towards the end of his film.

All in all, I enjoyed MARIE ANTOINETTE: A FILM, but coming off of MARIE ANTOINETTE: THE JOURNEY, felt as though I'd already heard much of Grubin's story. Newbies will probably find MARIE ANTOINETTE: A FILM a nice introduction to the topic, while history buffs might like the film's visuals. All in all, a keeper.

Forever famous as the last French queen, and who lost her head, literally, to the French Revolution, I thought I knew quite a bit about Marie Antoinette. After watching this film by David Grubin, I realized I had much to learn. The film is organized in what can be called the "standard" historical film format, containing current on location shots of pertinent locales; pictures of paintings/engravings to give you a sense of what the people looked like at that time; actors portraying main characters in snippets of live action; interviews with knowledgeable historians; and a narrator to knit it all together. This film format works, and since it is familiar, one can concentrate on the content.

Hour one is called "The marriage bed" and recounts the years when a very young Marie Antoinette became the wife of then prince Louis XVI. Most of us who study history know that the couple did not consummate their marriage for several years, and the film takes time to thoroughly examine this issue, since sex amongst royals, who had to create an heir, was an open topic of the court. Marie Antoinette's rich lifestyle and large spending habits are outlined in this hour, as well as how much Marie Antoinette's mother (the Empress of Austria) was involved in her daily life at the French court. But what you really see is just how much Marie Antoinette (and Louis XVI) was totally out of touch with the everyday lives of the French citizenry, and why the revolution did take them by surprise.

Hour two is called "The most hated woman in France" and recounts the beginnings of the French Revolution, and how it lead to the end of the absolute monarchy in France at the time. During this time, Marie Antoinette finally understood how her frivolous lifestyle had alienated her from her subjects. The film shows many (in my view, too many) examples of what we now call political cartoons of the day, depicting the supposed sexual debauchery of Marie Antoinette. Of course, these cartoons, along with the large national debt France has rung up, added fuel to an already burning fire of discontent in France, and much of the blame was laid at the feet of Marie Antoinette. We all know the outcome -- Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette both meet their deaths under the blade of the guillotine.

When the film ended, I was left torn between feeling sorry for Marie Antoinette, who was just a young girl when she was thrust into the crazy stage of the French court and knew no other lifestyle but one of luxury; and feeling sorry for the French people that their king and queen were so out of touch that only revolution would change things. Marie Antoinette was a tragic figure, much of her own doing, and continues to be an interesting character to study. This film does an excellent job providing fuel to anyone who is interested in learning more about Marie Antoinette.

I first saw this on TV and was completely engaged. I just got this DVD today and very happy to own it. Marie Antoinette's early life was completely in a bubble. Yes she reminds us of celebrities like Paris Hilton but did she deserve to die?!! Of course, not!. She was completely ignorant of anything outside of her royal confines. In fairness to her, I think the partial cause of this tragedy was Louis XVI, who was an inept person let alone a King! If he was half as much of what a King should be, he would've dealt with much of the country's financial issues rather than Marie herself. He also could've made her change her frivolous ways and become more responsible to her subjects. It was just a mess. People blame her solely but half of it if not much of it was not her fault. She was in a wrong time with the wrong man. Granted she was a horrible queen but part of the reason which led to her execution was due to those pamphlet lies! I agree with the Englishman historian that if only she and the king could agree on a constitutional monarchy, which would have saved the royal family and prevented an uprising. It's just too bad. Very tragic indeed! I will go to Petit Trianon to see it. Been to Versaille but not her Petit Trianon. Vive la Marie!

I was looking for a dvd that talked about the life of Marie Antionette and this seemed like the way to go, cause there are many more around amazon and it was confusing to which would be the best choice. I randomly picked this one and I'm glad I did. This documentary was very well made and very well written. Very enjoyable to watch so TRUST ME you wont regret getting this!
Cheers,

This was a great history lesson about the last king and queen of France. I go to Paris often and this video made places like Versailles, The Tuileries, and the Conciergie come to life.
Place de la Bastille has a deeper meaning knowing that the people of France had been pushed to the limit and could take no more of the aristocracy.

I loved this DVD! I'm interested in Marie Antoinette anyway but anyone who appreciates history would find this very entertaining and informative. I consider this a 'must have' for my home video collection.

Superbe vidéo de l'histoire tragique de cette Reine, à recommander ! cela permet de mieux appréhender cette partie de l'histoire de France...