Marie Antoinette (13 October 2006)
directed by Sofia Coppola
starring Kirsten Dunst, Marianne Faithfull, Steve Coogan, Judy Davis, Jason Schwartzman, Rose Byrne, Shirley Henderson, Molly Shannon, Rip Torn, Jean-Christophe Bouvet, André Oumansky, Asia Argento
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MPAA rating: Studio: Columbia Pictures, American Zeotrope, Pricel Script: Sofia Coppola Based on the book by: Antonia Fraser Music: Steven Severin Running time: 123 minutes Tags: Biagraphy; Drama; France; novel adaptation; royalty Tactical strength: [5/10]
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for sexual content, partial nudity and innuendo
Marie Antoinette portrays the life of the teenage Austrian princess (Kirsten Dunst) who married Louis the Dauphin of France (Jason Schwartzman) and later became Queen. The film directed by Sofia Coppola tries to depict Marie's mood as she deals with her arranged marriage, her attempts to engage Louis in sex, and her experience living at Versailles. We all know Maries ultimate demise, but the film stops the narrative as the mob evicts the royal couple from the palace. You really cannot blame Marie for not understanding the plight of the French people. If you believe the presentation in the film, Marie had no interaction with commoners at all. She lived in the palace at Versailles and in a private mansion with no understanding that the plentiful lifestyle she led didn't extend to all of France. You also feel sorry for Marie since she has almost no contact with her family in Austria except through correspondence and the advice of the Austrian ambassador Mercy (Steve Coogan).
Really, I have a hard time calling Marie Antoinette a biography. The film provides very little biographical information. I wouldn't want to take a French Revolution history test based on the information in Marie Antoinette. Instead, Coppola creates more of a mood piece -- you come to understand what it might feel like to live Marie's sheltered and pampered life. She had to put up with huge indignities, like the entire court knowing that it took years for Louis to consummate the marriage. Marie also gets very bored with her life, and Coppola implies that Marie used excess as a means of dealing with the boredom in her life. I think that a more skilled director could have conveyed Marie's boredom without resorting to boring the audience -- I started checking my watch less than an hour into the film.
In addition, Coppola chose several popular rock songs as part of the soundtrack. When taken as a tongue-in-cheek approach, like Brian Helgeland's A Knight's Tale, the modern music works as part of the playfulness of the film. Coppola tries for a very serious mood, and the modern music just doesn't support the feeling of French royalty. Several of the scenes have an operatic score, and these scenes provide a much more satisfactory viewing experience. I think Coppola wanted to attract a young audience with her casting of Kirsten Dunst and a modern soundtrack, and perhaps her plan worked -- the viewing I attended had many young people, but the film didn't seem to captivate their attention as they made numerous trips in and out of the theater.
Really, the cast doesn't have much work. For the most part, each actor only plays a caricature. Jason Schwartsman as Louis XVI plays a bewildered youth who has no interests other than hunting. He makes no personal development, except for finally bedding his wife, and remains bewildered as king. Steve Coogan makes an excellent Ambassador, but he doesn't have any breadth of character. Dunst has slightly more expansive role, but she only displays three modes: bewilderment, boredom, and despair. Only once does she allow the snubs of her husband to overwhelm her to tears. The rest of the time she battles boredom with excess.
I find Marie Antoinette an interesting mood piece that doesn't tax the actors involved, except maybe with their period wardrobe. The soundtrack distracts from the tone of the film, and I got bored at many places, probably due to so much attention to detail in the costumes and sets at the expense of true biographical information.
