Marie Antoinette (2006)

Rating:

Think of a lavish and towering wedding cake, and imagine frame after frame of screaming candy-colored pastels and layer over layer of ornate patterns ranging from florals and toile to lace and brocades to embroidered tapestries and gilded engravings. This is “Marie Antoinette”, the latest movie version depicting the life of the teen-age 18th century French queen and in a nutshell, its Titian meets MTV. The opulent production value of this biopic with its seemingly intoxicated cinematography is a visual overdose worthy of the refined decadence of the courts of Versailles during Louis XVI’s reign. The romantic imagery, such as a glimpse of satin gliding playfully across blades of grass, is precisely how I pictured this era in my childhood fantasies and the ethereal lighting is reminiscent of an opium induced dream. The sheer splendor of this film will leave you catatonic and in tears- but ‘tis far better to cry for beauty than it is for sorrow.

Director Sofia Coppola, being Hollywood royalty herself, has once more teamed with My Bloody Valentine’s Keith Sheilds, who’s previous efforts include the musical score for “Lost in Translation”. Shying away from cliché classical crescendos and decrescendos, Sofia’s uber-cool soundtrack preference has always impressed and her latest 80s synth-pop offering is a completely novel approach to recent epic blockbusters. Employing new wave, goth and post-punk tracks was an austere contrast to the delicate Rococo aesthetic, but the intricate flourish of a new wave melody suitably complimented the film’s grandeur and manic punk drumlines will never fail to get your hearts racing. I jumped up from my seat when I heard my latest shower song, which is the New Order cover of their former band Joy Division’s Ceremony, played during a montage for Marie Antoinette’s birthday celebration and literally shrieked in ecstasy when a minuet rendition of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ Hong Kong Garden introduced the opening shot of the masquerade ball scene. The Sex Pistol-esque title card was a sneak peek into the film’s hedonism and edge, which is fittingly symbolic in fact of the notoriety and excessive behavior of Marie Antoinette, the original punkette in a corset and petticoats…God save the Queen.

The storyline and the term “timeline” are virtually interchangeable in this case. I recommend you log on to Wikipedia since they probably would have a juicier account on Marie Antoinette. Sofia definitely could take a few lessons from daddy on character development (since in my opinion, Francis Ford Coppola’s Micheal Corleone of the “Godfather” is the most well written character in film history ever). The legend of the scandalously extravagant “first lady” of Versailles was both lost in the uninspiring acting of the Kirsten Dunst, playing the title role, and the inconsequential and one-dimensional depiction of Marie Antoinette’s character itself. Her royal highness’s development was lost midway in the film, somewhere during either one of her shopping sprees or parties. Eventually, Sofia neglected to give any substantial foundation and insight into the queen’s struggles. She furthermore failed to clarify how each critical ordeal, such as the death of Marie Antoinette’s mother and youngest daughter, would cause a spoiled, immature and self-gratifying monarch to bow humbly before a disgruntled mob and remain loyally steadfast beside her ambiguously gay husband from an arranged marriage, while the whole palace basically falls down around them in the midst of a revolution to overthrow the royal family. Perhaps, focusing ten more minutes on dramatizing the particulars of the downward spiral of Marie Antoinette’s queenly rule would have ended the film with a more lasting impact- this is after all a tale of reign and ruin. Sofia was simply ineffective in adapting her usual blasé, I’m-trying-to-make-this-seem-as-effortless-and-natural-as-I-can story telling with a chronological and detailed history of an iconic figure. I assume finding the balance between a formulaic narrative and experimental treatment was an endeavor of epic (no pun intended) proportions and more than she actually took for granted.

Following in the infamous “misquote” from Marie Antoinette: "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche" {“Let them eat cake”) is exactly what Sofia Coppola has managed to deliver—CAKE! To feed a starving population of eager new-found fans indulgently, well-decorated high-cholesterol fluff. I say: “Off with her head!”.

© 2006 Jonathan Susvilla
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