Product Details

• Actors: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Rip Torn, Judy Davis, Rose Byrne
• Directors: Sofia Coppola
• Writers: Sofia Coppola
• Producers: Callum Greene, Christine Raspillčre, Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Roos, Paul Rassam
• Format: Digital Sound, Closed-captioned, Subtitled, Anamorphic, Dubbed, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Dubbed: French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: February 13, 2007
• Run Time: 123 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (431 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000M06KJ8
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,798 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Marie Antoinette (Widescreen)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

Extras from Marie Antoinette (click for larger image)

Featurette: On the filming of Marie Antoinette: high bandwidth

Film Clip: "The Introduction" high bandwidth

Film Clip: "The Royal Treatment" high bandwidth

Stills from Marie Antoinette (click for larger image)

Beyond Marie Antoinette at Amazon.com

The Book, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

More Period Pieces With A Twist

The Films of Kirsten Dunst

Product Description

Academy Award® winner Sofia Coppola directs an electrifying yet intimate re-telling of the turbulent life of history's favorite villainess, Marie Antoinette. Kirsten Dunst portrays the ill-fated child princess who married France's young and indifferent King Louis XVI Jason Schwartzman. Feeling isolated in a royal court rife with scandal and intrigue, Marie Antoinette defied both royalty and commoner by living like a rock star, which served only to seal her fate.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 88 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of 2006's Most Underrated? December 31, 2006

By mac301

Format:DVD

While listening to The Cure's "Plainsong" a few hours ago, a track included in Sofia Coppola's latest feature film, which chronicles the iconic Queen of France, the motion picture really came together for me. "Marie Antoinette" is, undeniably, one of the most polarizing and bold films I have seen to come out of Hollywood in some time and perhaps Coppola's greatest achievement thus far; yes, better than Lost In Translation, folks.

Critics have unfairly attacked it as a celebration of decadent flair over substance, and while I had also shared these censures, I really feel people are misunderstanding the motion picture. Those looking for an accurate explanation of French history will be sorely letdown. I'll come out right now and say it, "There is no beheading!"

"Marie Antoinette" is a much more private and introspective experience. Coppola's focal point here is nothing more and nothing less than the manipulation of adolescence. Though Marie may have been excessive from time to time, there is more to her story than what has always been perceived. She was merely a teenager when she was uprooted and forced into foreign lands that held her, as well as Louis XVI to unattainable standards; their tragic exploitations serve as only more proof of how outdated and senseless the monarchy was. Sofia Coppola's prevailing test, undoubtedly, is to reverberate empathy for this young woman, and despite almost impairing it with a hefty illustration of the character's gluttony, Coppola, in due course, is winning.

Going back to my allusion of The Cure's "Plainsong", the film really works as something of an ill-fated fairy-tale. We know the doomed fate of our heroin, and thanks to Coppola it is a captivating journey, reminiscent of the song, with delicate instances of passion and affection, graciously supplied by Kirsten Dunst and a notable supporting cast, that makes us dread the inevitable conclusion. Wisely, Coppola restrains from placing in a spiteful guillotine scene, which would be absolutely unnecessary after the tender and personal feature it is throughout.

Now onto the feature's vastly-criticized directorial choices, I really think Sofia Coppola has produced the most contemporary period piece since Milos Forman's "Amadeus". From the daring incorporation of 80's New Wave as well as classical music to the energetic cinematography and editing, "Marie Antoinette" is a masterpiece in audaciousness.

The soundtrack is, easily, one of the best I have heard in a while. It actually aids in encapsulating the youthful spirit Coppola wants Marie to have. Those who pay close attention will appreciate the progression in the music and how it depicts the main character's emotions; it begins quite buoyantly and slowly becomes mellower. New Order, The Cure, Bow Wow Wow, The Radio Department, and The Strokes can all be heard during the film.

Even the costumes have a bubbly gaze to them. I know who is going to snag the "Best Set Direction" and "Best Costume Design" Oscars this year. Coppola really takes advantage of the unprecedented access the feature was given to the Palace of Versailles. She utilizes the awe-inspiring splendor of the location through opulent set pieces, colors, and atmospheric outdoor surroundings.

In honor of Marie Antoinette's eerily ironic last words: "Monsieur, I ask your pardon. I did not do it on purpose," Sofia Coppola's newest motion picture is for those yearning a lavish dream about a lost youth, who became something of a scapegoat for the tumultuous events that occurred around her.

209 of 251 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Let Them Eat Ganache October 22, 2006

By MICHAEL ACUNA VINE™ VOICE

Booed at its Cannes premiere this year (as Anthony Lane in the "New Yorker" states: "Who was in the audience, Robespierre?"), "Marie Antoinette" is that rare bird: a film that is beautiful on the outside (everything about the physical movie is eye-poppingly gorgeous: Costumes, Food, Pastries, Shoes {yes shoes...in fact I can't remember a film in recent memory of which almost every reviewer credits the shoes to the designer: in this case, Manolo Blahnik}) as it is on the inside: studiously, exhaustively researched, thoughtfully written and impeccably directed by Sofia Coppola who gives us a revisionist portrait of M. Antoinette that is humane, heartfelt and above all measured and compassionate. There is no doubt who is in charge of this huge production and Coppola's obvious tender touch is evident everywhere throughout this film.
This "Marie Antoinette" is told from a Marie as a girl perspective: she is very young, she is giddy, very much impatient of the French Court and it's customs, very much into clothes and shoes yet she matures, has children, takes a lover grows wise, becomes the subject of gossip, learns to love Louis and becomes a loving and doting mother. This is a fully fleshed out role of a victim, really: a victim of politics, of circumstances beyond her control.
At the center of this film is the tragic, sad and revelatory Marie of Kirsten Dunst. Dunst's Marie is the outsider, reviled by the French court (called "L'Autrichienne" by most...the Austrian *itch), lost and 14 when she first arrives in France, literally stripped of everything Austrian, Dunst navigates this difficult role with ease. But this is not a surface performance...not at all. Dunst digs deep and reveals all the nuances, all the insecurities, all the strengths of one of the most hated women in all of history. Dunst plays Marie from her gut and she leaves her blood as well as her tears on the celluloid. Do not be swayed or fooled by the naysayers: this is a towering performance of the first order.
Coppola is getting a lot of bad press or her use of 80's music on the soundtrack (Bow Wow Wow, Gang of 4, The Cure) but she has so far in her two previous films ("The Virgin Suicides" and "Lost in Translation") proven to be nothing if not a populist, a product of her environment, a lover of popular culture. In "M.A." the music serves the story effectively by blasting away and preventing any cobwebs from growing on what could have been a stodgy Historical drama.
Though Coppola will not be beheaded for making this wonderful film, it is apparent that most people just don't get "it." With all that said the fact remains: "Marie Antoinette" contains one of the most beautiful images ever committed to film: Marie in a carriage, having been forced out of Versailles, deep sadness in her face, clutching her children and holding Louis's hand, the camera pointed out at the grounds of Versailles, she poignantly says "Goodbye" to the only place she can claim as home...as the carriage takes her family to Oblivion.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Unique and fun October 6, 2007

By Melissa Niksic VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

I enjoyed "Marie Antoinette" a lot more than I thought I would. The film begins with Marie (Kirsten Dunst), the Austrian Archduchess, setting off to France to marry Louis-Auguste (Jason Schwartzman). Unfortunately, Marie's new husband has little interest in her or in the act of consummating their marriage, so the future queen finds herself in limbo for quite some time, as it is uncertain whether she will produce an heir to the throne and thus survive at court. Eventually Louis-Auguste comes around, and Marie gives birth to a daughter, and later a son. In the meantime, Marie becomes known as the Queen of Excesses, spending copious amounts of money on clothing and jewels instead of bothering to become acquainted with the issues of relevance to the French people. Marie enjoys parties, sweets, and even an illicit affair, but the fun comes crashing down when the monarchy falls out of favor with the citizens of France, who angrily storm the castle in an attempt on Marie's life. Eventually the royal family is forced to flee their home and go into hiding.

Obviously, the best thing about this movie is the way it looks on screen. Watching "Marie Antoinette" is like stepping into a high-end bakery and admiring a bunch of scrumptious, frilly wedding cakes. Everything about the film is absolutely beautiful: the costumes, the shoes, the palaces, the desserts. However, the dialogue in the first half of the movie is very choppy and sparse, so the only thing for the audience to do is admire all the visual beauty. After a while the script does manage to turn itself around, and I think the second half of the movie is much better in terms of storyline and character development. "Marie Antoinette" has a fabulous soundtrack that consists of mostly punk music, which is a lot of fun. Also, the cast is excellent. I was impressed with all the performances, especially Dunst's. She portrays Marie as a naive, frivolous, but not entirely unsympathetic person. I thought she did a really good job.

I was surprised that the film ended so abruptly and did not take us to the end of Marie's life. I think the story could have wrapped up a lot better than it did. All in all, though, "Marie Antoinette" isn't great, but it's very good.