Coppola's greatest talents shine in Marie Antoinette

Rating: 8/10 (20 October 2006)

Having had read the biography by Antonio Fraser that this book is based on, I must say that it is a very close representation of Fraser's work but with the visionary ideals of Sofia Coppola. Coppola is known for being a visionary director, she is a queen of understatement, saying much without saying much. Coppola is also an extreme connoisseur of imagery and therefore it is not a surprise that this movie is a plate of visual decadence. However, it would be unfair to say that eye candy is all it is because it is much more than that. Coppola tells a tale of a young woman whose personality, desires, and weaknesses are all very much like ours. In truth, Coppola delivers the message that the much hated Queen of France was in fact, very very human. Antoinette was a victim of fate and destiny, slave to an arranged marriage to France by her domineering and powerful mother (Marie Theresa) and subjugated to be stripped of her homeland and relegated to live in France within the gilded cage that is Versailles. There is the message that despite history's harsh recollections, Marie Antoinette was simply just a girl in a world that was changing, a world that had no place for people like her and she was simply swept away by the tides of destiny. Sitting through the movie I couldn't help but think that there is not really that much dialogue throughout the movie, but that is because one of Coppola's greatest talents is her ability to show emotion through action. Watching this lonely girl surrounded by lovely things in a huge palace makes one reminiscent of a lonely doll forced by fate to be bigger than she was ever meant to be. As for Kirsten Dunst, her performance here far out-rivals anything she has done before. Her innocence literally permeates from the screen to the viewer, it is really that strong. And that is probably exactly why Coppola chose Dunst, because despite the fact that Dunst is not the strongest actress, she brings a sense of lively innocence and haunting tragedy that literally blankets her from the top of her feather coiffed hair down to her Manolo Blahnik shoes. Dunst plays the role exactly as Coppola imagined it to be, and she gives Marie Antoinette a very human like quality. Overall, there will be many who do not like this film, especially those that think Marie Antoinette does not deserve a sympathetic view (like the French). However, it is an extremely good portrayal of a prominent misunderstood figure in history. Dunst gives her strongest performance to date and for the first time, we begin to see Marie Antoinette as simply and very realistically, a human being.