I was a little hesitant about watching this film after hearing all the bad reviews, but I've always had a soft spot for Sofia Coppola films - especially if Kirsten Dunst is in them (The Virgin Suicides was and is one of my favourite films). I've read an overview book about the French Revolution, which did not focus entirely on Antoinette - except for an unfortunate mishap (and perhaps sabotage!) with some diamonds/jewels. I got the impression from the book that the Revolution, though starting out as a force for - as they say - liberty, equality and fraternity, descended rather quickly into madness, paranoia and war. Anyhoos, this is not about the Revolution per se. 

In popular culture, I suppose Marie Antoinette is always thought of as a spoiled, luxurious prima donna, but I've read many comments that she was actually relatively modest and talented. In hindsight, this film attempts to display exactly that: Antoinette was misunderstood and conveyed beauty of all forms. Of course, it is an incredibly inaccurate interpretation in a historical sense - so bear that in mind.

Myself? Well, I'm generally a movie geek who likes to watch them for entertainment (well no doubt). I prepared myself for what had been called "a long pop video" and pressed play...

As with almost all Sofia Coppola movies, you could literally pause at any moment and get a postcard scene (i.e. a picture any decent human being would want on a postcard). It was honestly beautiful, and made France and Austria seem like mystical places. The soundtrack is definitely interesting (did you know the Strokes were over a century old? The used to be "Ye Olde Strokies") - in that it indeed makes the whole film seem like a pop video - but with such fast paced action, it almost seemed... dare I say? ... appropriate. Kirsten Dunst is a good actress, and I thought the balcony scene was lovely.

Everyone has incredibly inaccurate accents! I know... I know, I said I liked films for entertainment, but there was something wrong with watching Marie Antoinette being American. With the American accent. The sound of Americanism... etc. The film was actually a myriad of accents - from French to British to American to an apparent "Swede". It was a little off-putting. In some places, the film did have lows - with Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides I'd never have pressed the pause button (unless for postcard scenes) but I found myself a little too easily distracted for my liking.

Inaccuracies and wrong accents aside, this film is targetted to teenagers, and if it makes them want to read more on the French Revolution/Marie Antoinette/Louis XVI then that's great! For me, I'd only recommend Marie Antoinette to those select few it was made for - it was just brilliant to see Sofia Coppola doing what she does best: creating absolutely wondrous montages of vastly beautiful landscapes and colours and costumes. 

1) I'm a lazy blogger

2) This blog will generally include writings on films, music, books, fashion, locations, and other worldly movements.

3) I'm short and the best thing I have learnt to combat this is sewing.

4) I'm very bad at html things. Sorry if the layout looks nothing like it should be.

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