A Delicious Piece of Cake

Rating: Null/10 (28 February 2007)

"Marie-Antoinette", the ambitious project Sofia Coppola intended to adapt to the screens after her successful feature debut, "The Virgin Suicides", was made after Francis Ford's talented daughter took a break from all the historical research about the Austrian queen and decided to write another story in order to distract herself - it went on to become "Lost in Translation", her masterpiece.
"Marie Antoinette" was released 3 years after "LiT", and displeased most critics - after all, nothing can be shallower than a period drama with modern pop/rock soundtrack, right? Well, Sofia's soundtracks are always a delight (I must admit I have all of them, and I bought Marie Antoinette's double album without even seeing the movie and wasn't disappointed at all!), and she used rock to the likes of New Order, The Cure and The Strokes and classical opuses in right doses, making it a cool experience way better than, say, the incongruous "A Knight's Tale" (2001), with Heath Ledger. The cinematography (by Lance Acord), the Oscar-winning costumes (by Milena Canonero, "Barry Lyndon" and "Chariots of Fire") and the art direction are stunning. Of course a wonderful production doesn't make a great movie, and Marie Antoinette is Sofia's least interesting film so far - it lacks the depth and passion that we saw in "Virgins" and, especially, "Lost in Translation". Antoinette may be style over substance, but it isn't a bad movie by any means - and for those who say it's shallow because all we see is Marie being promiscuous and partying with her friends, well, that's the point: the absurdity of a 15 year-old having to marry, have kids and everything that royalty was demanded back then. She was a girl who couldn't realize she was ruining her country. Kirsten Dunst is quite convincing in the title role, and the secondary cast has some remarkable names (Judy Davis, Rip Torn, Jason Schwartzman, Steve Coogan, Marianne Faithful). Far from being a masterpiece, yet much better than what the haters are painting it, "Marie Antoinette" is, without doubt, a delicious piece of cake. 8/10.