11.28.2006

Marie Antoinette review

Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette is fun movie to look at and to listen to, however the story itself feels a bit disjointed; even those who enjoyed Lost in Translation may find themselves wanting a bit more substance. The cast is actually very good; Kirsten Dunst radiates while portraying the character of the free-spirited Queen while Jason Schwartzman plays the subdued and bewildered King Louis XVI. Other supporting players include Rip Torn as the outgoing King and Molly Shannon as one the Queen's social friends. There's a lot of turning up of noses, and extensive learning of the rules on how a Queen behaves and spends her day; many of which are broken by the young Queen, even more so as she grows bored of the royal life.
I enjoyed the music and the costumes and getting a glimpse of the pallace at Versailles (they filmed on location). I did not enjoy the abrupt ending, nor the lack of any real history, save for a the occasional moment when someone would run up to Louis with bad news about peasants. This movie feels a lot longer than it is and we get bored with it about the same time the Queen does; only for serious fans of Coppola, Dunst, or costume dramas.

1 comment:

RC said...

not a serious fan of dunst, coppola, or costume dramas...so...I think I'll pass.

--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com