Reviews

Marie Antoinette

Sophia Coppola has a bit of a legacy to live up to with her career. Yeah, I know she tries to separate herself from her dad, but the comparisons are going to be there. Staying on this subject though, I can’t help but be reminded that Francis Ford Coppola has not made a decent movie in at least a decade or longer. Saying this, I feel that Sophia has already hit a snag. I really liked her first two films, but can’t say that I was all that excited with this film. I mean what did it really have going for it? Well, we have a slightly inaccurate, historical, period piece about the infamous French queen with an 80’s new wave soundtrack. Hmm, I must say that I was curious.

So the French hate this movie. I can see why. The film is basically two hours of Kirsten Dunst shopping, partying and witnessing the ridiculous nature of being a princess-cum-queen. On the other hand, though, I did like Dunst in the film. She is very likeable as the tragic queen, and you do feel some sympathy for the generally hated queen.

In the case of Jason Schwartzman, I thought at first I was going to hate him in the film. He starts off as an immature, inattentive husband who is more concerned with hunting or key making. As the film progresses though the relationship does grow more favorable yet still has some distance. This distance comes from King Louis XVI running the country and Marie either taking care of the children or going back to said partying.

While Coppola does take the time to show all of Marie’s faults, especially running France into poverty, she still depicts her as a lost little girl. Honestly, give me a break. Coppola needs to make a decision on her true opinion of Antoinette.

On a positive note, the performances were well done and the photography was beautiful which is typical of Sophia’s films. The film is gorgeous all around from the lavish period accurate costumes and sets, but the soundtrack is not as jarring as I felt it would be. For some reason it fits right from the beginning, which may also be due to the lack of period accurate speech from the lead characters. While the adults use “high speech”, the younger actors further separate themselves from a life they would rather forget by speaking a more modern language.

Again, I have to reiterate the fact that I am conflicted with this film. While I wanted to like it since I am a fan, I just was not impressed with the film. I do have to state that my lovely girlfriend Michelle loved the film. What really made the film for her was the 80’s new wave soundtrack and the general beauty of the film. So I guess she will be buying the film, since she got the soundtrack already.

This makes me think that maybe this film may appeal more to younger women, as apposed to the French or someone looking for an accurate historical film. I’ll just have to wait and see what Sophia comes up with next. I guess they all can’t be winners.

5.5/10
-George

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