Film: Marie Antoinette.
First of all, let me preface this review by saying that I love the films of Sophia Coppolla. Her last two movies have been modern works of startling beauty and intelligence that have placed her voice firmly among the choir of my generation. So, it with deep regret that I must pan her latest effort, 'Marie Antoinette'.
For anyone unfamiliar with the context, the story of Marie Antoinette is the story of the fall of the aristocracy in France, and this is a setting that places Coppolla a little out of her depth. Eschewing historical accuracy for identification, she makes creative decisions which add 1980s pop culture into the mix, giving the film a distictively American slant. Coppolla portrays Antoinette as a child pushed rapidly into the role of Queen with little preparation. And what would you do if you were eighteen and suddenly queen? Party like a rock star, of course.
Unfortunately, Coppolla's trusted technique of sparse verbal exchange and contextual inference does not serve her well in the Court of France. Largely bypassing the issues of the political realm, Coppolla instead concentrates on the trials of a teenaged Marie, growing up in the world of palatial decadence. The fact that the anger of the French people goes largely unmentioned until the last few minutes of the film proves an awkward jolt. Neither is Kirsten Dunst able to carry Marie from the tender age of 14 to her historical death at 38, which leaves us with the impression that this story takes place within a few short years. The guillotine is only mentioned once, in the form of a gesture.
Coppolla also mixes elements of 80s culture into a few scenes: Ballroom dancers frolic to the sounds of 80s pop music, and Marie acquires a pair of Converse Hi-tops during a shopping spree. These blatantly incongruous elements however, are few and far between. Why Coppolla would chose to ignore much of history in some areas without pushing these choices to their fullest creative potential remains a mystery.
Despite all of its various problems, Marie Antoinette does successfully retain the beautiful momentary pauses for reflection and the tight integration of soundtrack and narrative that have become trademarks of Ms. Coppola's style The script also does a good job of illustrating the point that, despite Antoinette's status as Queen, she was very naive and was insulated from the reality of her situation by her courtiers.
All in all, this is a flawed gem: Beautiful, but clearly broken.
For anyone unfamiliar with the context, the story of Marie Antoinette is the story of the fall of the aristocracy in France, and this is a setting that places Coppolla a little out of her depth. Eschewing historical accuracy for identification, she makes creative decisions which add 1980s pop culture into the mix, giving the film a distictively American slant. Coppolla portrays Antoinette as a child pushed rapidly into the role of Queen with little preparation. And what would you do if you were eighteen and suddenly queen? Party like a rock star, of course.
Unfortunately, Coppolla's trusted technique of sparse verbal exchange and contextual inference does not serve her well in the Court of France. Largely bypassing the issues of the political realm, Coppolla instead concentrates on the trials of a teenaged Marie, growing up in the world of palatial decadence. The fact that the anger of the French people goes largely unmentioned until the last few minutes of the film proves an awkward jolt. Neither is Kirsten Dunst able to carry Marie from the tender age of 14 to her historical death at 38, which leaves us with the impression that this story takes place within a few short years. The guillotine is only mentioned once, in the form of a gesture.
Coppolla also mixes elements of 80s culture into a few scenes: Ballroom dancers frolic to the sounds of 80s pop music, and Marie acquires a pair of Converse Hi-tops during a shopping spree. These blatantly incongruous elements however, are few and far between. Why Coppolla would chose to ignore much of history in some areas without pushing these choices to their fullest creative potential remains a mystery.
Despite all of its various problems, Marie Antoinette does successfully retain the beautiful momentary pauses for reflection and the tight integration of soundtrack and narrative that have become trademarks of Ms. Coppola's style The script also does a good job of illustrating the point that, despite Antoinette's status as Queen, she was very naive and was insulated from the reality of her situation by her courtiers.
All in all, this is a flawed gem: Beautiful, but clearly broken.
posted by Q. at 11:57:00 AM
1 Comments:
That is disappointing but not surprising. I was concerned that this movie would not live up to her previous two gems from the time I heard that Kirsten Dunst would play Marie Antoinette. The anachronistic feel of the film only increased those feelings since that almost never works (the only example I can think of off hand where it did work was in Titus). Oh well, maybe next time.
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