Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette

[Nuzzolese]

Anyone see the trailer yet? It's being shown in theatres now. I think it looks awesome and I can't wait. The trailer is pretty cool, even though it gets a lot of shit for appearing so fluffy and trying-to-be-hip, I think it was engaging and enticing. It's not until Fall! Anyway, it stars Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman as the young royal couple. I don't know much else about it, except that it appears extremely stylized and to mostly depict her early years as queen. I think that a movie about a decadent, vain, spoiled naive young queen who is beheaded during the French Revolution after years of a nation's poor being ignored, is a relavent subject for today.

[abcdefz]

I've only seen the trailer on the 'net;
not in the theaters, not me, not me -- not yet.

[mickill]

a-z, you obviously just went and quickly checked it out, you deceiving bastard.

Me, I find wooden puppets kinda creepy.

[hpdrifter]

I agree. I think I mentioned it as one of the movies I'm looking forward to in 2006 in the thread dedicated to that topic.

I think the slick, modern music and title design are a really interesting statement. Having not seen the movie yet, I can't say but it seems like its meant to draw parallels with some of the vacuous, Paris Hilton-esque pseudo celebrities of today.

I think its a pretty astute observation, actually.

[Nuzzolese]

Me, I find wooden puppets kinda creepy.

I do too, but I love them at the same time! It's weird. My favorite museum in Paris was the Cluny, not because it was one of the most extensive or impressive but because it's so small and cool and quiet and peaceful with all those mideival altar pieces with the little wooden carvings of like, the life of Christ and such, and they look like little wooden puppet shows that don't move, with heads disproportionately large and so expressive because back then it was before Martin Luther and most people couldn't read the bible for themselves so they needed stained glass windows and tapestries and carvings and pictures and bribes...

[BangkokB]

When she said let them eat Cake...I think she was a futurist meaning the band and referring to her cannibalistic tendencies.
"We are building a religion..."

If Jason Schwartzman is in it then we're sure that it's gonna be a rocket ride of a movie. I saluted him in a thread a while back pointing out that he was Cool Nathan in some B-Movie that was AOK....Which Comic Book Guy and I both agree aren't on IDMB and that makes us angry

[Nuzzolese]

I agree. I think I mentioned it as one of the movies I'm looking forward to in 2006 in the thread dedicated to that topic.

I think the slick, modern music and title design are a really interesting statement. Having not seen the movie yet, I can't say but it seems like its meant to draw parallels with some of the vacuous, Paris Hilton-esque pseudo celebrities of today.

I think its a pretty astute observation, actually.


I agree! One of the things I thought of during the trailer, with its catchy 80s era tune, was "this looks like a car commercial!" suggesting vast endless wealth and leisure and youth, kind of like what is marketed to us today, but to juxtapose that with something that actually happened (although I'm sure she's taking liberties with the facts) and from an historical perspective we see that it ended badly, it could be a slight wake-up call. Either that, or Roccoco style will be totally in Vogue this summer/fall and we'll buy a load of new stuff.

[Nuzzolese]

Actually I didn't like the title credit design when I first saw it, but it's growing on me as being an unexpectedly appropriate look. I hope she does this whole thing the way I'm assuming she will. The song was so appropriate too! In case you haven't seen it, it was New Order's Age of Consent, which is a great song anyway. And if you didn't know, which I didn't know this either until recently, Marie Antoinette was only 14 or 15 when she was made to get married and move into the gossipy backstabbing and highly publicized and public court of Versailles. She didn't speak much French, she was not politically minded at all, she was flighty and artistic, and vicious rumors spread about her constantly. She was a poor little rich girl, basically. I think Sofia seems to stick to her territory well, depicting kept young women in gilded cages.

[abcdefz]

a-z, you obviously just went and quickly checked it out, you deceiving bastard.




...you won't like me when I'm defensive.

[jabumbo]

she needs to make more movies

[abcdefz]

I wonder if "Lick the Star" is going to get a DVD release. I've heard it's awful, but, of her movies I've seen, she's clearly two for two.

[hpdrifter]

Actually I didn't like the title credit design when I first saw it, but it's growing on me as being an unexpectedly appropriate look. I hope she does this whole thing the way I'm assuming she will. The song was so appropriate too! In case you haven't seen it, it was New Order's Age of Consent, which is a great song anyway. And if you didn't know, which I didn't know this either until recently, Marie Antoinette was only 14 or 15 when she was made to get married and move into the gossipy backstabbing and highly publicized and public court of Versailles. She didn't speak much French, she was not politically minded at all, she was flighty and artistic, and vicious rumors spread about her constantly. She was a poor little rich girl, basically. I think Sofia seems to stick to her territory well, depicting kept young women in gilded cages.

THat's interesting, I hadn't thought about that. Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, and now this. Maybe she feels like one of them as Francis Ford Coppola's daughter.

Anyway, yeah, its interesting to see historical movies that really try to depict the way things actually were instead of a stuffy idealized version of the events. And I think this will be one of the first movies about this event (the French Revolution) that focuses on the events leading up and not the beheading and rioting.

I think Baz Luhrman did a similar thing in Romeo and Juliet. If nothing else, casting people in the leads who were close in age to the actual characters (Romeo was 15 and Juliet was 13, I think). It really helps to drive the tragedy home and gives a new perspective that the story wasn't really about a great romance for all time, but was really 2 emotional kids who got carried away looking for someone to love them.

[Nuzzolese]

And with this one, it looks like it's going to really visually drive home the insane and destined-to-destruct culture of a disgustingly extravagant and materialistic society with all of the power over a country. I think it's important to take note of it now, because in a global sense, Americans could be seen as a nation of Versaille courtiers attempting to have power over others in order to take the benefits and indulgences, while insisting on remaining naive and free from responsibility in regards to the world's starving and poor. Plus, I love delicious visual candy in historical fiction; Kenneth Brannagh's Hamlet, Zeffereli's Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew.

[Qdrop]

fuck that shit....
it's all about X3, you sissies....

[abcdefz]

Plus, I love delicious visual candy in historical fiction; Kenneth Brannagh's Hamlet, Zeffereli's Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew.




...Arnaud's Quest for Fire....

[GreenEarthAl]

I think that a movie about a decadent, vain, spoiled naive young queen who is beheaded during the French Revolution after years of a nation's poor being ignored, is a relavent subject

I'd go see that.

How about YOU eat some cake beyotch!

[cosmo105]

kirsten dunst has tiny teeth

[Echewta]

I dont get the trailer. Is this suppose to be a Victorian Breakfast Club?

[Nuzzolese]

I'd go see that.

How about YOU eat some cake beyotch!

She never said that, it was a rumor. And as an adult, after she had kids, her priorities really changed and she grew some values. You can't blame the poor child, she was just a teenager. I blame the system.

[Bob]

what exactly was the context of the "let them eat cake" quote that apparently never existed? i've heard it more times than i can count but i've never bothered to find out what it's from, somebody explain it to me

[hpdrifter]

what exactly was the context of the "let them eat cake" quote that apparently never existed? i've heard it more times than i can count but i've never bothered to find out what it's from, somebody explain it to me

The story goes that her advisors told her that the people were hungry and that their bread was stale and she said "well let them eat cake" because she was so out of touch with what was going on and what it meant to be poor.

They don't have bread, well they can have cake, right?

Sort of like that.

But whether she actually said it or not is in dispute.

[GreenEarthAl]

You can't blame the system. What's to find fault with in an inbreed authoritarian system imbroiled in near permanent warfare while children are freequently left in charge and the aristocratics in charge of running everything are typically as preocupied with offing their relatives to consolidate their power as increasing the tax burden on their subjects in order to consolidate their power. I'm glad we're finally getting back to those days. The new pope seems more amenable to coronating the Bush family than that old John II fellow. So, honestly, the empire should be less then 10 years away at best. That old new guy's meter's running you know, he ain't zactly no spring chicken.

[beastieangel01]

From your description, I am excited. I haven't seen the trailer yet, I'll have to look for it online today.

[abcdefz]

...this screens next Wednesday at Cannes. I'm looking forward to the reviews.

The Da Vinci Code's getting clobbered. :)

[kll]

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=2525315

that guy is in Marie Antoinette. he has a small role. he will be the lead in my boyfriend's movie which will start filming in the fall.

[beastiegirrl101]

what exactly was the context of the "let them eat cake" quote that apparently never existed? i've heard it more times than i can count but i've never bothered to find out what it's from, somebody explain it to me


http://ask.yahoo.com/20021122.html

pretty much the same thing HPDrifter said.

[na§tee]

well, all i can say is that i hope the film i worked on wins the palme d'or at cannes rather than this film. biased, i know, but hey. i'll check out the trailer though!

[Tzar]

fuck that shit....
it's all about X3, you sissies....
word niggaz

[HotAndWet]

I'm going to see it purely for the fact that jason schwartzman is in it. <3

[abcdefz]

word niggaz



....you're..... holding out hopes..... for a Brett Ratner movie....?


Oh, God, you'remakingmysideshurtcan'tstoplaughing

[abcdefz]

Okay: Todd McCarthy in Variety, who's usually pretty spot-on:


"Let them have eye candy" pretty much sums up Sofia Coppola's approach to her revisionist and modernist take on the famous royal airhead who in the end lost her head. It is far from unpleasant to watch an attractive cast led by Kirsten Dunst parading around Versailles accoutered in Milena Canonero's luxuriant costumes to the accompaniment of catchy pop tunes. But the writer-director's follow-up to her breakthrough second feature, "Lost in Translation," is no more nourishing than a bonbon. Opening in France simultaneously with its Cannes bow, "Marie Antoinette" will depend for Stateside success in October release by Sony on its draw with teen girls and young women, who may warmly embrace the picture as a heady fantasy of luxury and riches.

Conceptually, Coppola has reconceived the tale of the Austrian princess sent to France at age 14 to marry the 15-year-old future king of France as one of a girl who would just rather have fun. Costumes and decor conform to correct historiography, but otherwise the film more closely resembles a story of a youngster moving to a new high school, with its environment of gossip and petty rivalries, than it does any previous screen account of pre-revolutionary France.

To her credit, Coppola makes it surprisingly easy to swallow her conceit of laying out momentous history against a backdrop of contempo tunes, largely by not dealing with the history at all. Aside from the mounting pressure on the young bride to produce an heir, there is very little plot here; palace intrigue, political strategizing, scandal and accounts of growing unrest in the country are all but forsaken, the better to concentrate on the repetitive rituals of royal life and to evoke the virtual cocoon in which she lives.

On its own terms, the approach succeeds. From the moment Marie Antoinette arrives by gilded coach at the French border and, in a historically correct scene, is required to strip entirely naked to divest herself of all things Austrian, the film evinces a symbiosis with its subject in its fascination with the trappings of privilege and the behavior of the upper class, and not a speck of interest in the chess game of diplomacy or conditions outside the immediate realm of concern. As a portrait of oblivious self-absorption, it's letter-perfect.

With its tightly framed shots of Marie Antoinette's arrival showing off the costumes' fabrics in intimate detail, and with evident free rein to film all round Versailles, the film revels in its setting without ostentation. Mild comedy ensues from the presence of a large retinue, led by a bishop, presiding over Marie Antoinette and young Louis (Jason Schwartzman) bedding down on their wedding night, and persists in its scrutiny of the continued, and increasingly worrisome, failure by the teenage couple to consummate their marriage. When Marie Antoinette's older brother Joseph (Danny Huston) comes all the way from Austria to educate Louis on successful bedroom conduct, one would dearly love to hear the conversation.

But here, as elsewhere, Coppola avoids writing, or filming, involved dialogue scenes, as if aware she can't pull off anything too complicated. Despite the vast number of people onscreen in many sequences, scarcely any scenes feature sustained group dynamics, multiple moves, ambitious staging or numerous characters interrelating verbally. To get around this, she tends to attractively and straightforwardly film individuals or simple groupings and then lay in the desired content via voiceover snippets of letters, isolated conversational snippets or, better yet, songs that can simply be played over a brief montage of shots. It's an easy-listening style of filmmaking, where the basic visual notes are hit but complexities, nuances and deeper meanings remain ignored.

To pull off such an approach, great flair would be a help. This is not forthcoming, so one must be content with watching the lovely, perfectly cast Dunst adroitly making her way through a succession of scenes in which not much more is asked of her than to effortlessly hold center screen for two hours — a task she handles as if it were second nature. Dunst's Marie Antoinette reacts to the pressures of the court as if nothing all that significant were at stake and, later, adapts gracefully to the role of mother and queen, with time out for some fun at balls and the theater and a dalliance (historically questionable) with a Swedish count. Her happiest moments occur at her private preserve in and around Le Petit Trianon, where she luxuriates in well-manicured "nature" and coddles her adored children.

When "the mob" finally materializes, the movie is practically over; Marie Antoinette's insulation from the common people and their discontent has been virtually total. Coppola avoids famous incidents that would normally make up the essence of drama: the affair of the necklace that so seriously stained her reputation, the chance discovery of the royal family as it fled; the king and queen's imprisonment and eventual execution. High schoolers won't be able to use info they learn here to pass any history tests.

Production looks plush without being extravagant. Some of the distinctive supporting thesps never really pop out of the backgrounds for lack of anything interesting to do, but several others have their moments. Despite his inescapable Americanism, Rip Torn projects vitality and a strong regal bearing as King Louis XV; Schwartzman grows appreciably into his problematic role as the initially disinterested, uncommunicative dauphin; Huston's urbane self-confidence suits his royal role perfectly; and Steve Coogan's wry circumspection gives the right edge to his role as the queen's personal advisor.

[Nuzzolese]

That sounds really good. Maybe no Amadeus - but what is?! - but it sounds good. I'm looking forward to it. I saw the preview again at Art School Confidential.

[abcdefz]

It sounds interesting. Hopefully better than Amadeus. :)

[na§tee]

well, it was booed (http://film.guardian.co.uk/cannes2006/story/0,,1782353,00.html) at it's premiere in cannes.
at the film that i worked on's [phew, take a breath!] premiere at cannes, it was cheered for 10 minutes! HOLLAH!

[abcdefz]

well, it was booed (http://film.guardian.co.uk/cannes2006/story/0,,1782353,00.html) at it's premiere in cannes.



Yeah -- that was the crowd. Supposedly, the critics liked it more.



at the film that i worked on's [phew, take a breath!] premiere at cannes, it was cheered for 10 minutes! HOLLAH!



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