This entry was posted on Friday, April 13th, 2007 at 7:42 pm and is filed under Drama, M, True Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Judy Davis, Rip Torn, Rose Byrne,
Asia Argento, Molly Shannon, Marianne Faithfull
Director: Sofia Coppola
This costume ball is full of resplendent costumes and garish sets that do a fine job of reflecting the decadent opulence of the 18th century French court at Versailles. Kirsten Dunst is the title character, Marie Antoinette, who is remembered by history as the symbol of royal excess that lead to the downfall of the French monarchy.
This film tells the story of the ill-fated Queen from her initially naïve and kind demeanor, through a gradual spiral, wrought by the youth, wealth and the influences of a court society, where there is little to do but gossip and overindulge. At the same time, her character has the specter of no heir hanging over her like a guillotine (hmm, unintentional ironic foreshadowing simile there), as there are consummation issues in her marriage to Louis XVI, played by Jason Schwartzman. The story moves forward steadily enough, but this is a bit too much of a dress up party for my taste. There is some traditional music common to period pieces such as this, but Coppola favors modern music, clearly intended to appeal to a younger audience. The story starts out light, but gets a darker as it continues and is marred by an abrupt, unsatisfying ending.
I am not all that fond of period pieces, in general, but this one was entertaining enough due to a good performance by Dunst, smooth, steady pacing and a strong central character whose development is both predictable and ominous. Those who enjoy period piece dramas will find this one to be acceptable fare. If only they had done something with that damn ending.
