Marie Antoinettenot an airhead but not insightful either

Rating: 7/10 (9 November 2006)

Marie Antoinette was fifteen when she married Louis Auguste, dauphin of France. At the death of Louis XV (1774) she became Queen of all France at the age of nineteen. She has generally borne a bad rep, mostly undeserved. Supposedly when told that the Paris mob demanded bread, she is said to have replied nonchalantly "Let them eat cake." The movie makes the point, which is assuredly accurate, that this story was a complete fabrication by one of Marie Antoinette's many enemies. As a foreigner and of Austrian birth (a traditional enemy of France), it is well known that she was often a convenient scapegoat for the discontent and restlessness of the French people, particularly as the political situation preceding the revolution deteriorated.
The film accurately depicts the intricate and rigid court protocol surrounding Louis' and Marie Antoinette's daily rituals, beginning when they awoke and unceasing throughout the day until they went to bed. It also delves into the glitter and intrigues of the court of Versailles and the wasted lives of the courtiers. One inaccuracy: the film implies that Louis suffered from premature ejaculation, thus preventing him from producing a child with Marie Antoinette. It seems more likely that he suffered from phimosis, a condition that can afflict an uncircumcised male, making an erection very painful. Although not known for certain, apparently this was the case. Once an operation was performed to correct the condition, Louis performed fine. It might be pointed out that unlike his great-grandfather, Louis XIV, and his grandfather, Louis XV, Louis XVI was a loving husband and father and had no mistresses.
We are often told that as humans we can create our own history. This is only partly true. Many individuals often find themselves overwhelmed by events not of their own choosing that are totally beyond their control, thus negating the idea that we create our own history. We can however choose how to behave even when events are overpowering. Both Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were loving parents who were swept up by the vagaries of history and destroyed by processes and events beyond their control. Unfortunately the film stops short of showing us Louis' and Marie Antoinette's final days and their courage in facing the Paris mob and their untimely deaths by the guillotine. All we are allowed to experience in the film is the vague premonition by Marie Antoinette that yielding to the demands of the Paris mob to leave Versailles and take up residence in the Tuileries in Paris sealed their fate.
Ultimately Marie Antoinette was a victim of history. Only one of her four children (all by Louis XVI) survived into the nineteenth century. Although not an unfeeling monster as she has often been depicted, she wasn't especially prescient either regarding what was happening in France at the time. A much more interesting movie might have focused on someone more insightful of the events that were unfolding.