Marie Antoinette (2006) review - Movie Thoughts (Chapter 14) 🎀

 Hey everyone,

Today's film is one that completely surprised me. I want to support projects with female directors as much as possible, but I am super glad that a strong woman behind the camera isn't the only reason I bloody loved this one....

(**disclaimer: the following thoughts are 100% my opinion, you do not have to agree with them - film is inherently subjective and everyone's perspective is valid! Also, there are probably spoilers in the following, read at your own risk. Now onto some thoughts....**)

Source: IMDB

Sofia Coppola tackled one of the most infamous and naïve monarchs to ever wear a crown. An attention-seeking character study of life within the lavish walls of Versailles before the French Revolution, the subtle complexities of Coppola’s perspective lent merit to a historical hot take unlike anything else in this genre. From her betrothal to the future king of France at just 15 years old, to her reign as queen at 19 and the eventual fall of Versailles, a re-imagining of France’s last monarch provided both a sumptuous visual spectacle and a subtle, clever commentary focusing on youth, privilege and loneliness under a gorgeous spotlight.

Trapped within a constant stream of ribbons, jewels and gold gilding on the walls, this film doesn’t shy away from languishing in the luxury; almost lagging at times in order to amp up the degree of absurd spectacle. With sumptuous and extravagant costumes from the brain of Milena Canonero, and some gorgeous production design from K.K. Barrett, there could be no doubt about the specific time and place audiences had stepped into.

Coppola’s script was thoughtfully sparse at times; cleverly preferring visual exposition and physicality to gaudy and long-winded dialogue. Nothing felt out of place, and lead Kirsten Dunst looked right at home in Marie’s shoes. She carried the emotional weight of this film and lent into the intricacies of the girl beneath the queen.

Director and writer Coppola’s take on Antoinette was a particular brand of introspection void of Les Misérables-esque hope for a new beginning. By no means a history lesson, the audiences’ box seat to how the young Austrian-born lady adapted to her royal life and the complete lack of self-awareness or responsibility underneath, it was a powerful choice to explore themes of identity and solitude from such an affluent perspective. Austrian ambassador Mercy (Steve Coogan)’s presence is as close to parental supervision as Marie gets aside from the persistent pregnancy jabs in her mother’s letters, and his inter-cuts of the state of affairs only compounds the disconnect the French monarchy has from reality. The final shot of a glorious bedroom smashed up, with broken glass all over the floor and upturned furniture illustrated how life and fortune were ultimately ripped from Marie. Whilst this film wasn’t necessarily humanising Marie or asking audiences for blatant sympathy, but showed her pampered pageantry and the careless frivolity of the French monarchy.

Coppola’s exceptional cinematic voice gave this film an extra spark of wit and character. A textbook case of show don’t tell, Antoinette’s first appearance chasing her pet pug through the gilded rooms of her home in Vienna immediately foregrounded her naïve youth. Flashes of excessive alcohol and gambling, opulent partying and piles of clothes and jewellery cleverly perpetuate Antoinette’s desire to be a wealthy party girl, even whilst wearing the crown of France. Inter-cuts of moments where Marie was shown to be ignorant and frankly bored by European political discourse, even asking the ambassador to give her the SparkNotes of a report kept up the implicit thread of governmental negligence in juxtaposition with the fun Antoinette was having with her friends.

It struck a curiously intimate balance of tone and perspective. Point-of-view and shaky camera shots were used to draw audiences into following Antoinette specifically, and it becomes abundantly clear that she has no plans to step outside her bubble of material, culinary and aesthetic wealth. There’s a question in amongst everything of how much empathy audiences could have for Antoinette given the threads of sadness and loneliness that also crept into the story. Although she never feels truly French, battled early aches of isolation and frustration whilst husband Louis XVI (Josh Schwartzman) took his sweet time in being attentive and affectionate and nearly buckled under the intense pressure to produce a male heir, the rapid cuts to compartmentalising by self-indulgent spending and the return of her resting indifferent smise was difficult to reconcile with those touching moments of vulnerability.

What eventuated through Coppola’s script was a fascinating character study of a woman history has not been kind to shone through her youth and desire to just be a wealthy carefree party girl. Attending the 1780s version of a nightclub, throwing a rager of an 18^th birthday party, getting into trouble with her friends and even having a steamy affair with the dashing Count Axel (Jamie Dornan) Marie is framed like the popular girl in high school; and the addition of the contemporary soundtrack only enhanced the multi-layered perspective Coppola was trying to convey.

Aesthetically and tonally unique encasing audiences in a chaotic journey of childlike privilege, Marie Antoinette provided a clear and at times provocative take on the queen known for letting them eat cake.

8/10, 4 STARS

Thanks for reading.

Love and eating lots of cake, Emily 🎀