AMANDA WILSON, Pulse Movie Reviewer | Posted: Thursday, October 26, 2006 12:00 am
Brimming with heady extravagance, "Marie Antoinette" is a reinterpretation of the reign of the most infamous Queen of France. Director Sofia Coppola artfully presents Marie (Kirsten Dunst) as an unassuming young woman who is thrust into the grandeur and gossip of Versailles.
At the tender age of 14, Marie is sent from her native Austria to Versailles to be wed to Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman), the future king of France. Their first formal introduction is warm but awkward, with Louis bashfully unable to look her in the eyes. This small faux pas is only a hint of the couple's future troubles.
Marie and Louis are soon wed in a lavish ceremony, with Marie wearing a dress that must be seen to be believed. The most important event is not the wedding, however, but the wedding night. Marie's sole responsibility is to conceive and bear a son, thereby cementing the Franco-Austrian alliance. King Louis XV (Rip Torn) offers this randy encouragement at their bedside: "Good luck, and good work."
The next morning, gossip spreads that "nothing happened." The rumors are true - and what at first seemed like a small anomaly soon develops into a full-blown scandal. Obtuse and distant, Louis barely acknowledges Marie in bed, at breakfast, or anywhere else for that matter. Louis is clearly the problem, but Marie gets all the blame.
Pressure mounts as years pass and Marie does not produce an heir. Frustrated with her inability to "inspire" her husband, Marie turns her attention to consuming mounds of decadent sweets (magically never gaining a pound!) and amassing an enormous wardrobe. Elegance and idleness go hand in hand, and both emphasize Marie's determination to ignore circumstances beyond her control.
In scene after confectionery scene, Coppola paints Marie as a spirited girl who "just wants to have fun," a desire which transcends time and royal rank. Dancing, feasting, dressing up, and partying 'til dawn, Marie's lifestyle is more 21st century than 18th. The soundtrack, composed of songs by contemporary artists (The Strokes, New Order) as well as classically oriented pieces, strongly accentuates this perception.
Dunst is perfectly sweet as the outrageously fashionable girl-queen, but it is Schwartzman who steals scenes with his backward sensibilities and tight-lipped smiles. When King Louis XV dies, young Louis grasps Marie's hand and utters, "Dear God, guide us and protect us. We are too young to reign." Throughout the film, Coppola conveys a sense that these are just a couple of kids, foolin' around with unfathomable wealth and the fate of a country.
Historical inaccuracies aside, "Marie Antoinette" is the portrait of a woman trapped by her status as a royal, as a woman, and as a wife. If she could not choose her fate, Coppola seems to say, she could at least choose her clothes. Still, silk and satin are no substitute for happiness or fulfillment. Like Marie, we are left with little consolation in the end. Underneath the opulence, a tragedy lays bare.
{M3review
'Marie Antoinette'
{M3Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Rip Torn
Director: Sofia Coppola
Run time: 2 hours, 3 minutes
Rated: PG-13 for sexual contnet, partial nudity and innuendo
Now playing at: College Square
**** (out of *****)