The Moving Picture

“Marie Antoinette” is a visually stunning film, but if you go into the theater looking for a historical drama, you are going to be sorely disappointed.
This cinematic eye-candy is not historical, nor is it political, as past films about the most famous French queen have been. Sophia Coppola’s latest film continues her ongoing them of exploring the lives of isolated and misunderstood women. And who, if not Marie Antoinette, is the classic example of this archetype.
Thus, “Marie Antoinette” is a character study, not a historical piece depicting the events leading up to the French Revolution. The film explores only the inner workings of the foreign-born queen’s French life and it does so more than adequately. Coppola’s representation of the Austrian-born queen accurately reflects how modern historians now perceive her.
Disliked from the get go, the foreign queen bore much of the French people’s unjustified animosity. As a teenager she was extravagant and cared primarily for pleasant diversion and entertainment more than she did for the intricacies of politics and protocol. However, as the youngest child of 15 and the youngest daughter of 11, she was not initially expected to bear a political burden as a prominent member of any state. Thus, she was poorly trained in the ways of the court.
However, the death of her older sister propelled Marie Antoinette into the position of the Dauphine of France. She brought with her a teenager’s lust for parties, shopping and pleasant diversions. But, her youthful indulgences — which she grew out of, as most people do, after having children — were not the sole cause of France’s miseries. A series of costly wars and financial support of the American Revolution bankrupted the country, not her diamonds and dresses.
This film is also a metaphor for modern Hollywood life, of which its director Sophia Coppola is a product. If you look at the film in that context it becomes much more interesting and your desire for a historical or political theme wanes further.
Moviegoers at the Friday 1:45 p.m. showing of the film at the Redlands Krikorian Premiere Theatre were, overall, pleased with the film’s beautiful presentation. They, like this reviewer, were captivated by the costuming and cinematography. However, they were particularly disappointed in one aspect of the film — the ending. Perhaps craving the expected beheading at the end of the film, many were angered when it did not happen.
The film ends with the royal family fleeing the Palace of Versailles just ahead of an angry mob. But again, this is not a historical drama. It is a character study of Marie Antoinette. Thus, it began with Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen transforming into Marie Antoinette, the Dauphine of France, and ends when she becomes Antoinette Capet, the imprisoned royal.
“Marie Antoinette” was heavily booed at its debut at the premiere film event, the Cannes Film Festival, but overall it was hardly hated. Roger Ebert reported that the daily critics jury of “Screen International,” a cross-section of nine international critics gave it a rating of 2.44 out of 4, making it tied for fifth out of 14 films.
It is also quite likely that Coppola’s film will get Oscar nods for both the costuming and the cinematography. However, one of my favorite aspects of the film, the music, will probably only draw quizzical looks. This eclectic blend of modern day rock and pop music fit perfectly with Coppola’s themes.
A musical score is normally expected to support the action without drawing attention to itself. Coppola found an artful way to break that hard-and-fast rule, employing music that simultaneously commented on the film by drawing attention to itself without overwhelming the action. Well done. Interesting and different is always fun and “Marie Antoinette” had a lot of that right down to the musical score.
If you do not go into the theater expecting “Marie Antoinette” to be a historical drama with heavy political undertones, then you will find little to be disappointed in. This is a character study, so do not expect a history lesson and you will be pleased. Besides, did you really want to pay $10 to feel like your back in high school listening to a monotonous lecture delivered by an uninterested, impassionate history teacher?