Story of marie antoinette movie
Watch Sofia Coppola’s decadent 2006 costume drama on the Memorial Union Terrace after dusk on July 10.
Being a teenage girl sometimes means feeling gazes on your bare skin, forgoing comfort for the sake of people-pleasing, and having the last threads of your childhood slip out of your grasp before you realize you weren’t ready to grow up yet. It’s full of generalizations, but also truths that transcend identity and allow for young girls to develop a melancholy sort of solidarity with one another—even with the Queen of France who ruled in the late 1700s.
Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (2006), screening as part of the WUD’s Lakeside Cinema series on Sunday, July 10, after dusk (approximately 9 p.m.), is an artistic mirror and facilitator of such gendered recognition and development. The film re-tells the story of Marie Antoinette—the villainous icon of the French Revolution who famously ended up at the guillotine—but takes stylistic and historical liberties in order to simply tell the story of a girl. It follows Marie (Kirsten Dunst) as she marries King Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman) at 14, becomes Queen at 19, and flees the Palace of Versailles at 34.
Coppola’s film so successfully pairs the muddled, weighty history of 18th century France with the pure sensibilities of a coming-of-age narrative, striking a balance between the two’s assumed aesthetics. Visually, recreations of the extravagant, frilly fashion of the era makes the screen a dream of pastels at every change of scene. Milena Canonero—who won an Oscar for her costume design in the film—did not stray from the daunting task of creating obnoxiously wide dress cages (crinolines) or tall powdered wigs.
Simultaneously, in the auditory realm, the chaos of the court is backed by a post-punk and new wave soundtrack that includes everything from The Cure’s “Plainsong” to Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy.” While following the m 2006 film directed by Sofia Coppola Marie Antoinette is a 2006 historical drama film written, directed, and produced by Sofia Coppola. Based on the 2001 biography Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser, the film covers the life of Marie Antoinette, in the years leading to the French Revolution. The film stars Kirsten Dunst in the title role, along side an Ensemble cast, which includes Jason Schwartzman, Judy Davis, Rip Torn, Rose Byrne, Asia Argento, Molly Shannon, Shirley Henderson, Danny Huston, Steve Coogan, and Jamie Dornan in his film Debut. Marie Antoinette premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and was theatrically released in North America on October 20, 2006, by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics, and did moderately well at box office, grossing approximately $60.9 million against its $40 million budget. Marie Antoinette won the Best Costume Design at the 79th Academy Awards. Despite its initial reception, retrospective reviews have been more positive, and the film has since garnered a cult following. Fourteen-year-old Marie Antoinette, the daughter and youngest child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, is a beautiful, charming and naïve archduchess. In 1770, she is sent away in order to marry Louis XVI, the Dauphin of France, to seal an alliance between the two rival countries. Marie Antoinette travels to France, relinquishing all connections with her home country, and meets King Louis XV of France and her future husband, the Dauphin. The betrothed young couple arrive at the Palace of Versailles and are married at once. They are encouraged to produce an heir to the throne as soon as possible, but the next day it is reported to the king that "nothing happened" on the wedding night. As time passes, Marie Antoinette finds life at the court “Letting everyone down would be my greatest unhappiness.” This film has been featured in an episode of my podcast about movies and mental health, Peculiar Picture Show! Marie Antoinette, the person, is someone I didn’t know a whole lot about, aside from the fact that France beheaded her and she allegedly told peasants to eat cake when they had no bread. Marie Antoinette, the 2006 film by Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides), takes that vague historical figure and brings her to life, making her more human than a lot of fictional characters I see in film. Starring Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman, the humanity of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI really is the focus of this film. Antoinette especially is made relatable to viewers today, even if the film is not 100% historically accurate—a very conscious decision on Coppola’s part. This is a film that I didn’t fully appreciate until my second viewing, as the true depth of the film evaded me on my first viewing because I was expecting something very different. The film has some great things to say about gender norms and societal expectations that elevate this from a breezy biopic into intelligent social commentary that’s surprisingly relatable. The plot follows the infamous Marie Antoinette, starting with her move to France and betrothal to Louis XVI at 14 years old, and going all the way to her run from the angry French mob at age 38, stopping just short of her famous execution. If you’re expecting international politics and a history lesson, you’ll be sorely disappointed. The film spends surprisingly little time discussing politics, instead focusing on the personal life and struggles of Antoinette as she finds herself in an awkward marriage and in the middle of some large disagreements in her new nation. As such, the film is a fantastic drama, but a lousy historical piece, but that’s exactly what the director was trying to do. How can we be expected to live in a place if we are not When the Austrian-born Marie Antoinette is “handed off” at the tender age of 14 to the French aristocracy in an arranged political marriage to Prince Louis Auguste (soon to be King Louis XVI), she’s stripped of everything and everyone she holds dear. Repackaged as “fully French” so as not to offend the oh-so-delicate sensibilities of the Versailles court, she weds Louis in a grand ceremony. And then sees very little of him outside of their official appearances. The two sleep in the same bed, but their marriage is not consummated for seven years, much to the despair of Antoinette’s mother and the chagrin of Louis’ father. An heir to the French throne is desperately desired, and when an arranged marriage such as this one fails to yield that precious son, then, the people of the land wonder, what was the point after all? When Marie becomes queen and begins to empty the country’s royal coffers on personal frivolities, the people stop whispering and wondering, and starting shouting for her head. Despite her mother’s controlling, selfish behavior, Marie respects her counsel and mourns her passing. She also has a strong bond with her brother, who goes the extra mile on her behalf to explain the birds and the bees to her “bumbling” husband in a way that he can understand. Two notes about that conversation: 1) It works, and 2) Beyond a lock-and-key metaphor, its details aren’t verbalized onscreen. Because of the tragic events that end both Antoinette’s decadence (and her life), it’s hard to avoid thinking about the truth detailed in 1 Timothy 6:10, which reads, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” Indeed, this queen loves her things. And they do not pay her back in kind. Another lesson learned via Marie Antoinette (2006 film)
Plot
Marie Antoinette
Movie Review
Positive Elements