Synopsis:
A retelling of France's most iconic Queen. From her betrothal to Louis XVI to her reign as queen and then fall of The Palace of Versailles.
Well that was
interesting to say the least. I couldn't quite tell what I was
watching here if I'm completely honest. I'd have to say period dramas
aren't really my 'thing', or the thing of any self-respecting man, so
I suppose that I have to look at this through the eyes of Marie
Antoinette's intended audience. Which I did, but still, for this
all-over-the-place attempt to give us insight into the life of one of
France's most famous monarchs shouldn't really be particularly
enjoyable for even the fairer sex. I say 'shouldn't' because despite
it's flaws my girlfriend seemed to enjoy it, and even I found myself
getting into the relationship side of things between the young
Dauphine, and then Queen, of France, and her reluctant King (though
looking at Kirsten Dunce in this role it's pretty hard to understand
why). Even being faced with absolute logic any man can be brought
down by the interests of his better half and somehow begin to
appreciate something seemingly otherworldly, and by all accounts,
drenched in cooties.
There are positives
here and there in it's quirkiness. It's comical to see the pair have
expectation thrown upon them, to produce an heir to the throne, and
there be no gusto to get the first part out of the way with. It
builds for great sexual tension between the leads and humorous
mocking from other members of the cast, plus an awkwardness that you
could cut with a laguiole (sorry, feeling my French heritage coming
out a bit). However, it's safe to say the structure of the film
doesn't lend itself to improving this situation, or give it any kind
of lasting impact.
By it's very definition
I wouldn't say this is a movie at all, you can try and label it with
a genre; Drama, Comedy etc... but at the end of the day we must call
it what it is. A montage. A two-hour long(!) montage of a
period-drama, based around Marie Antoinette's life at The Palace of
Versaille. There seems to be no clear narrative, except for the
series of events which already historically exists, brought to us in
the form of random scenes that hold no real direction other than
“this is what happened this day”. A couple of historically
speculated theories are thrown into the mix such as Antoinette's
affair as well as King Luis' sexual orientation being hinted at
throughout. I have no problem spoiling these things because they lead
absolutely nowhere and just fizzle away, forgotten. You can tell Sofia Coppola is trying to spice things up but it's not going to
change if a sequence is void of point or use.
Another problem is the
films feeble attempts at reaching a more “hip/current” audience.
The popular music with guitars and singing during a ballroom segment
is laughable as well as the mismatch of English and American accents.
I have no problem with the film makers portraying a French setting
with English actors but at least remain linguistically consistent.
The same with the random 2007 reboot St. Trinian's-esque rock music. I
mean, it's bad enough to have included it in the first place, but the
thought of someone deciding to throw it in randomly in the opening
credit sequence and then halfway through is just beyond me.
It's quite a nice film
to look at though I'll give it that. I'm sure fashion-files will lap
up the costume and set design. It helps build the wonderfully outré
world of 18th Century French royalty. Although brought to you in montage form you
still get the feeling for the time and will even begin to worry when
these extravagant colours are lost in a scheme of civil unrest. Would
have been nice to have gone further along in the Queen's life, past
Versailles, but as anyone with wikipedia will tell you, things only
go down hill from here, probably a good place to stop.
Overview:
Gents, whether you like
it or not, you're going to enjoy this if you're with your
girlfriend... I don't know, it's like a curse. And ladies, you really
shouldn't, but by all means probably will, luxuriate in this sequence
of purposeless scenes brought to you by, presumably, a fairly inept
scriptwriter/director. How it was dragged out for two-hours I'll never know.
Rating:
★★
No comments:
Post a Comment