"Marie-Antoinette" the movie

[carlota]

contrary to what some members said, i didn't find it boring. i was delighted with such costume, make up and other beautiful things and could have kept watching the same for other 2 hours without getting bored. yes, the film perhaps lacks some essence and you get no sense of time passing, but perhaps that was what sofia wanted to exemplify: the continuity of versailles and the sense it was some sort of "all time" state for the privileged courts. quite paradoxical, when you take into account that when the film ends, the revolution was starting. however, the characters kept believing they were going to live in their bubble for a long time, just as it happened for years of french history. some more talk would have hindered the beauty, so i think it's just the way it should be.

however, the fact they don't mention anything else appart from her life at versailles (no childhood, no detention, no conciergerie...) is a put off: the film should be called marie-antoinette at versailles rather than marie-antoinette. they miss very important bits in the story, which is a shame. the neckless affair, her relationship with the misstresses and the court and of course, her detention and execution. i understand adding this would have hindered some of the film's beauty, but is the film not about marie antoinette and her life, rather than just her life? i would have either made 2 parts of the movie to include other bits of the story, or to try and add them by skipping some others (which to me, for example, would have been an incredible crime, as i loved the not essential shoots, wandering around versailles, or just in parties, the opera, or showing what a girly life marie had). however, i would have loved to see another part of MA, perhaps deepening a bit more on her relationship with louis auguste, la princesse de lamballe, la comtesse de provence, count fersen...

to finish off, i just loved it and don't seem to get enough. i can't wait to get my hands on one of those biographies of her and crave into the delight of finding out more about such a singular and unique personality.

[carlota]

some other movies (royal) in the fashion of marie-antoinette (although doubt they will reach its excellence!):

-the duchess: to be released at the end of 2008. by keira knightley, features the life of duchess georgiana.
it happens during the same time and has some expectations of a nice filming place with nice costumes, but in my opinion, the

trailer

doesn't look as appealing as sofia coppola's.

-the other boleyn girl: by natalie portman and scarlett johanson, to be released in february. features the lives of anne and mary boleyn.

trailer

[TheSparkInside]

Firstly, thank you Carlota, I didn't know those movies had trailors out yet. The Other Boleyn Girl actually looks good despite the fact that I did NOT like the book at all--it was poorly written to begin with and played around way too much with history for my tastes. But that is neither here nor there.



I LOVED Sophia Copolla's movie. It's definitely different. I think it's one of those things where you really like it or you really don't.

I think the important thing to understanding the movie is that it's not meant to be a biography, as Sophia herself has said. It's an impression of Marie Antoinette's life, and as that I thought it was very successful. I didn't find any of it boring, really. People complain that it's all about the clothes and the shoes, but it isn't. That is the glossy surface, but the other moments--when we see Marie Antoinette walking listlessly through a field or flopping onto her bed with a vague look in her eyes--we catch glimpses of what is going on beneath the surface. It's a hollow existence, and I thought that it was captured really well both by the candied surface and the listlessness of the film. I have to say, Kirsten Dunst was great in emoting just the right amount (though physically she is not quite how I myself would picture Marie Antoinette, though she's GORGEOUS especially in the GORGEOUS costumes), and Jason Schwartzmann was perfectly awkward.

As for the ending: going any further in the story would have absolutely never fit in with the rest of the movie. Can you really imagine putting scenes of grimy prison and brutal murder together with the movie that was presented? Besides, as I said aloud when I first saw it, "Well, we kinda know what's gonna happen, don't we?" I tihnk it ended at the right spot.

I absolutely LOVED the funny little conversations that you barely caught a hint of. Not only did it feel very real--don't you pass by and hear bits and pieces of conversations?--there were also interesting references. Like one of the aunts says, "I heard she bought a boy", which if I remember correctly, Marie Antoinette brought home a poor boy to keep. I was wondering whether the Duchesse de Polignac was talking about Du Barry or someone else when she mentioned how someone had bought a title and "that must have cost a fortune!"

And I absolutely loved this review: I think he really puts into words what the movie conveyed. I tried not to steal his ideas! I think he's bang on about it being a series of vignettes that we as the viewer have to assess. I also agree that it's like an Impressionist painting: you have to stand back a step or two to really see what is happening. It isn't going to be spoon-fed to you.
review of Marie Antoinette

[sgl]

[quote=carlota;709842]however, the fact they don't mention anything else appart from her life at versailles (no childhood, no detention, no conciergerie...) is a put off: the film should be called marie-antoinette at versailles rather than marie-antoinette. they miss very important bits in the story, which is a shame.

I agree with you. I loved this movie. It was beautiful to watch and interesting. The only thing that I would have liked to see is more of Marie-Antoinette's life BEFORE Versailles. I would have liked to see more of her family and upbringing.

[ZUBIAUR]

I think the movie Marie Antoniette of Sophia Coppola is marvellous. All in this movie has an exquisite taste,the decoration ,the dresses,the pastel colours (rose, blue,green...),the fabulous cakes ,the shoes .It is really beautiful to see this picture because it is like a fairy tale .The actress who plays Marie antoniette is really beautiful and the dresses she wore were beautiful also. It is very interesting that this picture was filmed in Versailles palace.

[Leslie2006]

Originally Posted by semisquare

i agree she needs to get her teeth fix, she has enough money.
marie antoinette wasnt the first choice for the throne of france. her sister who die from small pox was the first choice. unless im getting her mix up with another royal family

The archduchess you're thinking of was Josepha, who was sixteen at the time the King of Naples (not France) was choosing a bride. She died from smallpox and the king chose Maria Carolina over Marie Antoinette. So in turn, Marie Antoinette became Queen of France instead. The girls were like pieces on a chess board to their mother; she treated them as objects she could use to further her empire, instead of her children. The people of Austria-Hungary were her "children" instead.

[Leslie2006]

Originally Posted by ZUBIAUR

I think the movie Marie Antoniette of Sophia Coppola is marvellous. All in this movie has an exquisite taste,the decoration ,the dresses,the pastel colours (rose, blue,green...),the fabulous cakes ,the shoes .It is really beautiful to see this picture because it is like a fairy tale .The actress who plays Marie antoniette is really beautiful and the dresses she wore were beautiful also. It is very interesting that this picture was filmed in Versailles palace.

I loved it too! And the fact that it was mostly filmed actually IN Versailles...I was just shocked. lol That doesn't usually happen with period pieces; they usually end up making the sets, you know? Most of it was historically accurate too, which I loved.

[Odette]

In Paris this weekend there is an auction of items that belonged to the late Mme La Contesse de Paris. Among the items for sale at Christie's there is a pouch / bag Marie Antoinette embroidered while in prison. Does any of our Parisian friends plan to go see these items? It would be fascinating. Such a part of French history up for sale.!

[marmi]

Oh to be in France right now! I'd kill to see those things!

[Menarue]

In Point de Vue they showed a few of the objects going on sale (what a shame!) a portrait of the young Louis VIII dedicated to his sister and a very touching letter written by Marie Antoinette not long before she was executed.
I can only hope that these precious objects fall into the right hands.

The film Marie Antoinette was outstanding, I really loved it and I just can´t understand the bad writeups it got from some. The costumes were perfect and so were the characters and the modern music, although it came as a shock, put us in a modern frame of mind and made us see her age and her behaviour in the right way, as we so often see her as a much older looking woman in her portraits.
She started off a frivolous young woman rebelling against the rigid court etiquette after being let run much more freely in her home. This being true she showed her real character from the moment she and her children and husband (that order as she was first a mother)were put in prison and she realised what could happen to them and herself.