Let me first clarify that I was horrified to see the cast of this film when it was announced. I hate it when Americans highjack a project like this and try to stuff their own actors in it or try to Americanize it. This is the reason I admire all the Harry Potter films, that they have stuck to the British or European actors and Directors correctly portraying the region in the books. As others have pointed out before, Dunst as Marie Antionette just doesn’t cut it. As expected its reception(at Cannes and otherwise) was terrible too.
On the other hand, that Sofia Coppolla is an intelligent, subtle and sensitive director has been proven by her two previous films "The Virgin Suicide" and "Lost in Translation", therefore I found it intriguing that she could have made such a blunder. Therefore, I decided to give it a go.
And let me come out straight with it: I quite liked this film.
It is of course no masterpiece by any stretch of imagination but it’s a good film.
I will not go into plot and what it is based on cause the reviewers before me have commented on that in great detail. All I want to say is how I found the film and what it seemed to say to me.
The film through the tragedy of Marie Antoinette is more about the trivial occupations of youth and how ignorance and impetousness on the part of rulers can lead to complete ruination. You have beautiful costumes, tasty looking colorful pastries, delicious food - all beautifully presented to show the obsession with the exterior beauty. The theme of triviality hence becomes the style of the film. The theme of hollowness becomes imbibed in all the exterior beauty.
That it becomes a comment on today’s youth, which is seemingly more empowered but unfortunately trivial(just like the leads) is another achievement. This is of course achieved through the use of punk music. The film seems to be deliberately drawing a comparison between the wasted opportunity given to Marie Antoinette and today’s youth. In the film’s generally happy, casual air there creeps a sadness towards the end which is effective. At the risk of being called various unprintable names may I suggest that maybe it should be watched again? Maybe, time will be kinder to this film.
I know that only making these allusions, however well-meaning and intelligent are not enough for a film to reach the depth of its message. "Marie Antoinette" just doesn’t have enough to make it richer and deeper.
But maybe that’s the point.