Marie Antoinette

There was much talk of this film when it played in Cannes, as it got booed by the French audience. I don't think this film is boo-worthy, my response was more of a yawn, as I found very little about it compelling.

The story of a teenage duchess from Austria who is married off to the dauphin of France, Marie Antoinette has lived through history as an example of decadence run amuck. Director Sofia Coppola takes a look at how tricky a spot this young woman was in. First off, her husband, the future Louis XVI (wickedly played by Jason Schwartzmann) has no interest in deflowering her, and everyone around her urges to get knocked up or she may be shipped back to Austria. Then there are all the weird rules of protocol, like standing in the cold morning air naked waiting for the highest ranking lady in waiting to slip on your petticoat. Some of this is nice, droll humor, but this film is not a comedy. After the dauphin finally does his duty and gives her a daughter, she seeks to withdraw from the court life and has an idyll in the country, where she romps with lambs and goats. I'm sure that was very nice, but hardly riveting.

In the final act history catches up with our girl. We see it all from inside Versailles (aside from a few quick glances of torches and pitchforks). The audience can neither sympathize with the plight of the royals or condemn them for it (Schwartzmann, now as King, simply gives his approval to everything his advisors suggest). Marie denies saying "Let them eat cake," but she's no Eleanor Roosevelt, either. We are spared a guillotine scene, so instead we file out of the theater mumbling, "What was that all about?"

Of course the costumes and sets are dreamy. Coppola also uses anachronistic music, with songs from the eighties. I suppose this is why many critics saw the film as a representation of tabloid divas from today such as Paris Hilton--the lonely little rich girl syndrome. Parallels can certainly be drawn, but I think what this film is mostly about is what a drag it is too live such an insular life, which even someone like Hilton doesn't suffer from (she was busted for DWI, after all). I imagine the closest parallel may have been Princess Diana, but even she busted out of the palace shell and took her kids to Disneyland. Pity Euro Disney wasn't open back in Marie's day.