Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of 2006's Most Underrated?, December 31, 2006
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held her, as well as Louis XVI to unattainable standards; their tragic exploitations serve as only more proof of how outdated and senseless the monarchy was.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.
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173 of 213 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Let Them Eat Ganache, October 22, 2006
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.
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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must all these people watch?, March 27, 2008
Marie Antoinette DVD
This movie is about the life of the teenage Austrian girl who married King Louis XVI of France. I had read about her saying "Let them eat cake" for years, when she asked why the peasants were rioting during the French Revolution and was told that they had no bread to eat. What I didn't really realized until watching this movie was how sheltered and out of touch she was. She was only 14 when she was packed off to marry Louis, who she had never seen before, was stripped and inspected for blemishes when she reached the hand off point( how embarrassing) and had something like forty people sitting around her bed watching on her wedding night. "Nothing happened, apparently." Well duh?
Kirsten Dunst gives an excellent performance as the teenage queen, in this movie which starts off set in Austria in 1768. She spoke German, by the way, not French.
Highly recommended for students of History who want a better insight of this period of European history. Other items about Marie Antoinette include:
Marie Antoinette: The Journey
The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette: A Novel
Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France
Another book related to Marie Antoinette is Norby and the Queen's Necklace (Norby Series)
Gunner March, 2008
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