Marie Antoinette brought to life

Rating: 9/10 (29 October 2006)

Instead of being merely a conveyor of historical chat like a character in a BBC docudrama, Kirsten Dunst's Marie Antoinette comes to life in Sophia Coppola's wonderful film.
Thankfully, this is not another schoolmarmish retelling of a story so well known. Coppola manages remarkably well to stick to historical reality considering the condensation and editing necessary to make a movie, but this is a film that wisely takes for granted that we already know the basic tale.
The focus early in the film is on the natural reactions of a teenager who was sent to France as a last-hour substitute after two older sisters died, thrust into a hostile, demanding situation for which she was pitifully unprepared. It continues with her efforts at coping, touches on the maturity brought on by motherhood, and shows her fortitude as it begins to develop within the drama we have seen and read a thousand times.
It is sumptuous! Complaining about it being sweet and tasty is like biting into a cream puff and whinging that it should have been fish.
My only criticisms: An intermission and another hour would have been swell. I guess I'll just have to see it twice to get my fill.