Nothing could contain my excitement when I heard that the new Sofia Coppola film, Marie Antoinette, had finally been released on video and since the film never made it our local theatres, I could not wait to relax and view the newest project by one of my favorite filmmakers.
In case you were asleep that day in history class, Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) is the story of an Austrian princess who was married off at 15 to the French prince Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman). At 19 she became queen and as her title became more important, her excesses grew and the film takes us all the way to the monarchy’s eventual ruin with onset of the French Revolution.
In typical Sofia Coppola style, her lack of dialogue becomes like the dialogue. The first 30 minutes of the film is predominately silent. All we have as the viewer is to take in this young girl, the sights and sounds of her new French home, and the awkward silence that settles heavily between Marie and her husband Louis. It also accompanies her lack of confidants in Versailles. The silence almost makes the stuffy customs, foreign lands, and the naivet of the young Marie Antoinette all the more poignant.
As Marie becomes more accustomed to her environment and grows into young adulthood, she grows bolder and more extravagant in her tastes. Her mother Marie Teresa (Marianne Faithful) and Ambassador Mercy (Steve Coogan) are weary of her spending habits and would rather she focus on her failing marriage. You see, the fact that it took several years to consummate her marriage to Louis XVI and the rumors that he was in fact gay were cause for scandal in the court.
With all this pressure to produce an heir, a seemingly impossible task considering the lack of affection from her husband, she looks toward ornate clothes, wild parties and gambling to supply her with happiness.
These wild parties, expensive clothes and wigs usher in the bright pastel colors like blue, pink and yellow, colors not usually associated with historical pieces. These colors, along with the highly decorated food, make the movie pop. Historical dramas typically drag their feet with shadows cast across dusty corridors with dark brooding colors. This is definitely where Coppola leaves her mark.
Another Coppola-esque quality which appears in her in this film and her other works is the use of music to highlight a mood but she is unique because the soundtrack is not chock full of obvious choices, depending on how you look at it. The Cure, the Strokes, Gang of Four, New Order, Siouxsie and the Banshees make up the play list. Again, not the most obvious choices for a period piece; however, several of the bands on the soundtrack are infused with a neo-romantic sensibility that when paired with the tale of an 18th century princess.
Concerning the performances, Coppola does well to return to her muse of sorts, Kirsten Dunst, to portray Marie Antoinette through her many stages. We feel her nervousness when arriving at Versailles, and yet even when she appears to be a spoiled brat, we still see a sense of humanity behind her fancy clothes. She has her money and her parties but she still is very much an outsider in a foreign world. Also, Jason Schwartzman, who is known for his special brand of nerdy humor, is completely awkward and obviously uncomfortable in his own skin and his position as king – a far departure to the his previous roles but needed to help a particular facet as to why Marie Antoinette acted the way she did.
Harkening back to my high school days sitting in class, I cannot recall being taught to pity or even try to understand these excessive monarchs. This film however sheds a different light on the situation. In an ingenious and particular style to Coppola, the film presents beautiful cinematography and a script typical to her style. The movie pops and entertains in a rather relaxed way.
If you’re a fan of Sofia Coppola or are just interested on a modern take on 200-year-old story of two kids failing to run a country, rent this film.

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