Great movie,

Rating: 10/10 (20 October 2006)

Those who are upset about historical inaccuracies regarding this movie should probably stop trying to make our pasts out to be something sacred. Human history is filled with lots of varying accounts of the same stories--In Plato's day, the stories of heroes were reworked in several ways to produce the desired moral. And do you think King Cymbeline of Shakespeare's play really banished a guy named Posthumus to a Renaissance-based Italy? History is ours to cannibalize, and I say anyone non-living is fair game, because at that point they are the equivalent of a folk tale--they have some place in the collective conscience, but unless you knew them personally, what's the difference? Sofia wanted Marie to tell us something about youth, womanhood, isolation and expectations and did so admirably. Add to that a killer soundtrack, lovely costumes, a little bit of humor, and magnificent natural photography, and I say it's a grade-A movie.
It's not a documentary, doesn't try to be one. I think Sofia has perfectly characterized how from Marie's perspective, her indulgence was a good way to ignore the absurd situation she was put into, but at the same time demonstrates how this behavior, in a real, historical type sense, pretty much helped to destroy the country in it's own little way. Cute little bit of duality there. Great flick, in other words.
Not the best of the year, looking back, but still a strong picture. Maybe in my top fifteen.