Art Imitates Marie Antoinette's Life - Vacant and Meaningless

Rating: 3/10 (14 November 2006)

For all intents and purposes, this is a fashion show that has been turned into a movie. Yes, the costumes are sumptuous, and yes, the palatial backdrops are majestic, but somewhere along the way it was forgotten that movies should have a story of some sort or enough heart and soul to make up for the lack of same. For me, this effort had neither.
It begins well enough with the Austrian princess being sent to France for an arranged marriage to cement the newly formed allegiance between France and Austria. Her youthful exuberance combined with exasperation and bewilderment at the ways of the French court provide some levity, as indeed does the awkwardness of her fledging relationship with Louis August, who is portrayed as a young man who lacks confidence with members of the opposite sex. At least that is what we must assume and this is where the movie begins to falter, for it does not go on to make a character of Louis nor do so of any other player. All except Marie Antoinette are paper thin types, two-dimensional entities appearing on-screen for a time to say some words but add little else. We do not know why Louis is so distant or if, following the birth of the couple's first child, he remains a truly distant husband or really resembles a lukewarm lover. Schwartzmann is truly wasted in this role.
That said, it is only after the first child's birth that we see that the movie may change direction. There are beautiful and lovingly shot scenes where we see Marie Antoinette blossom in motherhood and experience a blissful return to nature from the indulgent excesses of the court. This too however must pass and when we return to the court with the protagonist, we also return to her boring, empty life there. The director might have been trying to get some of this across but I doubt that most of the movie was meant to feel that way. Dunst's portrayal of the character comes across as a girlish person prone to inner thinking and whimsical consumption. This may be true, I do not know, but it leaves us with little view inside the only character in the movie.
It's not all terrible there are some good shots, some comedic moments and towards the end of the movie, there is a nice touch where part of the story is told through the changing of a painting, which I found clever. It is not enough though and as the revolution in France is beginning, the movie is coming to an end. The revolution does hint that the movie may end with some drama. Alas it does not and it more peters out than anything else. I felt cheated of my time. If you love fancy dresses then maybe there's enough here to keep you ooh-ing and aah-ing but if, like myself, that is not enough to keep you interested then I suggest "Dangerous Liasons" as a great movie covering a similar period within France.