Amazon.co.uk Reviews
While much was made of the fact that Marie Antoinette elicited boos at Cannes, the many favorable reviews attracted less attention. Inspired by Antonia Fraser's biography, Sofia Coppola fashions a portrait that's just as dreamy as The Virgin Suicides, her first literary adaptation, and the Oscar-winning Lost in Translation. Set to a soundtrack of post-punk (a conceit that adds more interest than resonance), the teenaged Marie (Kirsten Dunst, quite good) may be shallow, but she's rarely unsympathetic. The story begins in the late-18th century as the Austrian Archduchess agrees to marry Louis-Auguste (Jason Schwartzman). After bidding adieu to her mother, Maria Theresa (Marianne Faithfull), she travels to France, where King Louis XV (Rip Torn) sets the rules--and the list is endless (Judy Davis' Comtesse de Noailles is the primary enforcer). As for the Dauphin, he's just a boy, really, with more interest in his key collection than their marriage bed. Should Marie produce an heir, it might be enough to sustain her--since life is nothing but an endless shopping spree--but clouds gather on the horizon as an impoverished populace rises up against their extravagant leaders. Coppola merely suggests what happens next, although history paints a darker picture. Filmed in and around the Chateau of Versailles, Marie Antoinette is a riot of rustling gowns, sparkling jewels, and Manolo Blahnik-designed shoes. To say that style trumps substance does its maker a disservice, but the look of the thing does leave the deepest impression. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Customer Reviews:
Top 5 worst films ever.......2008-03-13
The actors did their best, a lot of effort was put into cotumes, EVERYTHING else to do with the fillm was HORRENDOUS
I loved it........2008-03-13
I have rented it and watched it twice already.
It is so beautiful and it made it a whole lot real in Versailles, I have been lucky enough to go there.
I love this film but understand the bad reviews, I suppose it a matter of taste.
I think all the actors were wonderful especially Kirsten Dunst. Her American accent didn't bother me at all.
Below average . .......2008-02-29
This was a very disappointing film . Having seen the mixed reviews , I went into it with an open mind . Having watched the film , I understand why opinion of it is mixed . I found it boring to be perfectly honest , as with Sofia Coppolas previous film " Lost in Translation " . I guess that it is a film that you either " get " , or " dont get " , I am afraid that I didn't .
dull dull dull.......2008-02-23
One of the worst films I have ever seen - only surpassed in dullness by 'Lost in Translation', given that there is a fascinating time in history, this is really quite an achievement. The film is just a number of set pieces, which are lovely to look at, but even on this basis, seem like a wasted opportunity. The anachronistic dialogue and music also jars, without addding anything.
My wife thought it was rubbish too.
While it may not be historically accurate, it's entertaining as hell........2008-02-12
When I sit down to watch a historical film that takes itself seriously I expect it to be accurate. Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette doesn't take itself very serious, which is why it works so well as the story of a teenage girl. Beautiful performances, direction. The sets and costumes are gorgeous, and the use of contemporary music works extremely well (which was something I worried about a lot, but I was proven wrong). Definitely worth a watch, and a rewatch. I recently bought the book which this film is based upon, and I'm looking forward to getting the more detailed story of Marie-Antoinette's troubled life.
Customer Reviews:
"Tribulation first makes you realize who you are," .......2006-09-27
Marie Antoinette was born November 2, 1755 in Vienna, Austria. She was the youngest and most beautiful daughter of Francis Stephen I and Maria Theresa Emperor and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire. Marie Antoinette was brought up believing her destiny was to become queen of France, the hope of forging an alliance with the two countries. She married the crown prince of France in 1770. Four years later she became queen when her husband was crowned King Louis XVI
One of the most interesting facets of this two-hour special on Marie Antoinette was that she never said the famous line "let them eat cake." In fact, the poor Marie was remarkably naive about the needs of the French peasantry and even about her adopted country. Living in a secluded life in the palace of Versailles, she had never seen the sea and spent most of her short life confined within the walls of the palace and gardens.
This fascinating documentary, which aired on PBS last night - in preparation for Sofia Coppola's big-screen dramatization, starring Kirsten Dunst - expels many of the myths associated with this deeply misunderstood Queen. She was indeed only a child - just fifteen - when her mother Maria Theresa married her off to the teenage Prince Louis.
Naive about the role of a Queen, Marie a woman of great charm and beauty, spent much of her time gambling and partying, spending money from the public coffers, oblivious to who paid for it all. The fact that Louis was Unable to produce a heir was a source of great consternation in the court, and as the years went by with still no child, Marie found an outlet by building a private world on the Versailles grounds, Le Petit Trianon, a private retreat where she could get back to nature.
Children did eventually come, but it didn't help the status of the monarchy, especially in the eyes of the public, who viewed Marie and her moneyed dalliances as responsible for much of the crises in the country. Louis was an incompetent and bumbling King, who found it hard to make decisions. With the political and social ideology of France quickly changing, Louis and Marie were urged to limit their power, and help contribute to forming a constitutional monarchy but they remained stubbornly tied to the strictures of the past.
Marie offended many of the nobles, adding their denunciation to the scandalous stories spread by royal hopefuls. It was the nobility that balked at the financial reforms the government ministers tried to make, not the King and Queen, who were in favor of change. In truth, Antoinette and Louis' fate were sealed by the irrevocable march of history, innocent porn's caught up in the winds of change.
Both Louis and Marie ended up guillotined, but in the meantime Marie grew as a woman, a mother and a monarch, the irony being that she was much more of a Queen when she was stripped of her royal status and impassioned awaiting trial in Paris. Actress Blair Brown narrates this gripping film, while historians Antonia Fraser, Simon Schama, Evelyne Lever, Antoine de Baecque and Fanny Cosandey and novelist Chantal Thomas provide much of the interesting narrative about the tragic life of this beautiful and much misconstrued woman. Mike Leonard September 06.
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Marie Antoinette (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
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