Marie Antoinette (2006)

Kicking off Women's History Month, here is a truly unique take on one of the most famous (or infamous) monarchs in the history of French royalty.  Kirsten Dunst stars as the eponymous Queen married to King Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman) - their reign lasted from 1774 through 1793 and happened to be during one of the most tumultuous periods in French history.  Though you would be forgiven for not noticing this for most of their story as we watch Marie live a legendarily decadent lifestyle filled with colorful clothes, food, and company.  

This was director Sofia Coppola's follow-up to her Oscar-winning smash from three years prior, Lost in Translation, and it was generally looked upon during initial release as a disappointment.  Over the past 18 years though, its reputation has grown somewhat thanks to Coppola's inventive direction and her memorable decision to fill the soundtrack with anachronistic New Wave pop music.  If nothing else, it's a true original and the stacked cast also includes Judy Davis, Rose Byrne, Jamie Dornan, Asia Argento, and then very baby-faced Tom Hardy.   Let Them Eat Cake indeed!!!

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Transcript

MARIE ANTOINETTE – 2006

Directed by Sofia Coppola

Starring Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Steve Coogan, Judy Davis, Rip Torn, Asia Argento, Molly Shannon, Shirley Henderson, Rose Byrne, Mary Nighy, Danny Huston, Marianne Faithful, Jamie Dornan, and Tom Hardy

Genre: Historical Drama (Audio clip)

Considering how much I liked director Sofia Coppola's previous films The Virgin Suicides and especially Lost In Translation, I am at a loss as to why I waited almost 15 years to finally see her follow-up....it might have partially been due to the savage reviews it was getting at the time and at least on the surface, the seeming smugness of its concept (or at least how it was marketed) in 2006: 

"Here's Marie Antoinette but we're going to contemporize it with a New Wave soundtrack and focus on the excess of her life...see she was JUST like Paris Hilton!" :p 

Now I LOVE '80's New Wave like Gang of Four, New Order, and The Cure but I guess it smelled of a gimmick movie along the lines of A Knight's Tale only more arthouse. But it pleases me to say that my initial perception and a lot of those dismissive reviews at the time were just plain wrong. This film is a logical extension of the dream-like feel that Coppola brought to those previous films but taken into a historical setting where it actually fits quite beautifully. This is NOT a biopic of Antoinette nor is it even attempting to be a historical account of when the French Revolution crashed into Versailles...this is a mood piece about a specific, isolated sliver of society. 

Yes this film feels like Royal Decadence Porn in several sequences and yes the title performance from Kirsten Dunst can come off as vacant at times...but it all gels together into a disarming portrait of a specific time and place. You are transported to a setting where you FEEL like you're there....you WANT to be there drinking champagne, eating macaroons, and playing table games with pastel chips....and you also getting an increasingly nagging sense that not only is all of this VERY fleeting but that it's all unearned. 

There's some dread that starts to creep in not only because we know the actual history of where the Bourbon Royal family in France ended up...but because we see how easy it is for our main protagonist and everyone around them to sink into this level of ignorance that was bread into them for generations. In just a few select scenes mainly involving Jason Schwartzman's King Louis meeting with his council about the increasingly dire circumstances France is finding itself in - but nothing that can't be paid for by just raising taxes (!) - Coppola shows us an extremely insular world that seems more hyper-focused on feeding itself by placing more focus on keeping the blood line going than actually governing the rest of society. There's actually very little political intrigue in the film but just enough that we get the gist. 

The performances are strong across the board from not only Dunst (who just radiates youthful bliss and ignorance while looking gorgeous doing it) and Schwartzman but the rest of a pretty stacked cast featuring Rip Torn, Asia Argento, Judy Davis, Steve Coogan, Danny Huston, and Molly Shannon...along with nice early turns from Rose Byrne and Jamie Dornan who both almost steal the movie as royal play-pals for Marie. And it should go without saying that the production design and costumes are just next-level dazzling - amazing work from Costume Designer Milena Canonero who justifiably won an Oscar for it that year. The film just looks and feels LUSH and delicious as silly as that sounds!

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

Seriously this is definitely one of THE best soundtracks of the past twenty years but I would be remiss if I did not shout out one which was NOT featured on the soundtrack nor even in the movie….and that’s because it was used for the original teaser trailer.  Now upon first glance back in ’06, I found this to be VERY pretentious as mentioned previously but rewatching that first teaser now, it REALLY holds up!  Trailers are an art-form unto themselves and this is one of the prime examples for one particular format: the teaser which is merely a montage of images of the upcoming movie featuring no dialogue and just memorable music overhead.  Of course this is a montage of the decadent lifestyle of Marie featured in this movie while also showing smatterings of various other cast….it’s a great showcase for the visual presentation of this movie and the song chosen to play over it?  It comes from one of my favorite New Wave bands of the ‘80’s…..Salford, England’s OWN New Order….from their 1983 album, “Power, Corruption, and Lies.”  I’m talking about the fast-paced guitar-driven groove of “Age of Consent.” (Audio clip)

But if we’re talking WITHIN the movie, there is likely one standout among so many great pop classics and it happens to be from a gothic/New Wave band which I believe I have cited at least twice before within this category….most recently within my review of Showgirls no less, yup it’s Siouxsie and the Banshees.  It also happens to be band’s DEBUT single no less remaining one of their biggest hits….pretty seminal song from 1978, yeah EARLY New Wave no less….it was even cited by Q magazine on its list among the “100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever.” (Audio clip) 

The song is another fast-paced one, the power-pop rocker “Hong Kong Garden” and we hear it relatively early in the movie SEEMINGLY played diegetically no less over a masquerade ball which Marie attends in Paris.  It’s quite a site indeed seeing a dazzling array of colorful costumes and masks dancing in a circle in an overhead shot as Siouxsie’s vocals ramp up….even better this sequence kicks off with an instrumental introduction to the song form composer Dustin O’Halloran.  The transition from orchestra to the actual band is sublime, just a truly energized sequence! (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

This is likely a small nitpick but featured among the cast is one of my favorite character actresses from the ‘90’s, Oscar nominee Judy Davis who was featured quite prominently in previous episode The Ref….she is FANTASTIC in that movie and has always been one of the best at portraying characters with acid wit. (Audio clip) 

Here she has a small role and leaves quite the impression early on portraying the Comtesse de Noailles – she’s training our main protagonist in the ways of being an eventual Queen including one memorable sequence where she wakes up Maria and has her stand undressed at attention as others gather around to dress her.  Davis is just pitch-perfect in this sequence presenting just the right amount of disapproval without directly expressing that…..it’s a good contrast to the overall attitude of Marie and disappointingly, we just see much of Davis’ character beyond the first act.  I just think maybe another scene or two later in the film with this individual might have heightened the drama a bit….(Audio clip) 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Now I don’t know how completely historically accurate this particular scene is but it’s SO tense and well-executed that I have to give props regardless.  What I’m referring to is of course towards the end as angry mob of French citizens has now gathered outside of their castle….security has been ramped up to the point where we can now see Marie and Louis surrounded by several people….but not SO much that an angry crowd with torches has now been able to gather up literally RIGHT in front of their home.  We hear the sounds of people screaming and windows breaking outside….they’re holding their children and every one is clearly scared. (Audio clip)   

Marie tries to ensure that every one inside is calm as she then walks out on to her balcony and what follows is simple and elegant…..she bows towards them and lays out her arms on the balcony.  It’s a brief, straightforward gesture on her part to show some fealty to her citizen and at least for a brief moment, it calms down the crowd.  What I love about this moment is how delicately it is presented to us….no rousing music, no dramatic close-ups, just ONE grace moment to demonstrate the humanity of everyone.  Anyone who’s even a rudimentary student of history realizes that’s it going to take MUCH more than one gesture like these to feed the French people so we can appreciate just how fleeting such moments of respite always are.  (Audio clip)   

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

Along these lines because of moments like the one just described, the answer is obvious…..yes Dunst is really good in this, actually better than she was given credit at the time.  Actually the whole cast delivers, even Jason Schwartzman with what initially seems like an underwritten role – his Louis just doesn’t say much but he still says quite a bit with gestures and looks especially towards the end.  Overall this whole touchy enterprise would just fall apart if not for a steady hand at the wheel and that would of course be Coppola.  For both writing and directing what is likely her most underrated feature, Sofia Coppola is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 4 stars out of 5 

Overall, this film is very much a mood piece which works best if you happen to be in the right MOOD to be transported to a more elegantly cinematic version of this particular world.  Sofia Coppola pulled off something pretty unique here and it's better than many of us were lead to believe. ;)

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And that ends another DECADENT review!