Among the Worst Films of All Time

Rating: 1/10 (15 April 2007)

Complete insanity to focus on Marie Antoinette at the center of one of modern history's most defining events, yet at the exclusion of history itself. That kind of solipsism is historical denial, and we do not applaud untruth. The real M.A. was not so enigmatic after all. Quite self-aware, never that powerful, certainly not the semi-impaired cupcake of Ms. Coppola's vision. Nothing, nothing! of three concurrent wars bankrupting a nation, the corruption of the Estates General, the Affair of the Necklace. And most importantly -- nothing of the rancid Duc d'Orleans, royal court cousin, chiefly responsible for M.A.'s rise in society, the overshadowing of Pompadour, duBarry, etc. It was Orlean who undermined the throne, spread pornographic images of the real M.A., fostered revolution and then hoped to inherit from a disgraced Louis a grateful nation returning to his version of monarchy. And So Much More. Coppola erases history and gives us instead a costume show. Frankly, that particular costume show was on display in 1975's Oscar-winner for costumes (also M. Canonero "Barry Lyndon"), and no surprises here.