I think the reason why so many people were disappointed with
this movie (it was booed at Cannes) was because it had an
excellent trailer that completely misrepresents the film.
Marie Antoinette is a slow moving but fascinating character
study, not the hip generation-Y fun that the trailer
promised. It is a very good film nonetheless.
I don't know enough about this area of history to determinate
how accurate it is. It opens as Marie (Kirsten Dunst) leaves
her native Austria to enter into an arranged marriage with
the heir to the French throne, Louis XVI (Coppola's cousin
Jason Schwartzman). Marie quickly finds herself in an odd
situation - she is supposed to produce an heir, but the
socially awkward and introverted Louis in unable to help. In
other words, her sole purpose in life is to have sex with
someone who doesn't want to have sex with her. Marie finds
that she is not popular at court because of her difficulties.
What I liked most of about the film was its portrait of
Marie. Unlike most royalty in movies, she is essentially a
normal person who was lucky enough to be born into a royal
family. Although we know that she and her husband will pay a
huge price for overlooking the needs of the lower classes,
Marie is not a mean or uncaring person, she just doesn't know
any better. It is not hard to see how one could be
accustomed to all night parties with friends, extravagant
costumes and a pastoral retreats in the country side. It's
not so much self-absorption as environment-absorption.
What keeps an impressive film from being truly exceptional is
a certain coldness that it posses. It's more of a "think"
movie than the fun that the trailer promised. I like Marie
and many of the characters, but I never got involved in their
story on an emotional level. Coppola also makes the odd
choice not to include the most dramatic part of Marie's life-
her downfall and death. Perhaps she is considering a sequel?
This is an underrated film. It's not what the trailer
promised, but is an excellent portrait of someone who
tragically is in a situation over her head, and has
absolutely no idea of it.
Marie Antoinette (2006)