Marie Antoinette - pop-art pleasure for minimal measure

Rating: 5/10 (27 October 2006)

I went to this movie knowing I was going to hear some non-period music so I expected a sort of long-play music video. From the trailer, I also expected some beautiful visuals  nice color of clothing and such.
You get a taste of what it must have been like by being dragged along on a slow ride in a carriage. Look out the window, get some sleep, play a game, look out the window, get some sleep. Wow, that was interesting. Great if you want to be reminded that not every generation had fast cars, planes or trains. Who would have guessed? OK, enough of the sarcasm. You will need to be ready for a slow pace. Enjoy the nuances in color, music and clothing. Accept this movie for what it is, pop-art. It is not much more than that and, unfortunately, not great pop-art.
I feel there has to be strength in relationships. Normally I would think Coppola would want the same since she did such a great job of it in Lost In Translation. I think the difference between the two movies is, it was easy to relate to someone in LIT but MA was lacking in that area. I could not relate to anyone. Matter of fact, I didn't want to relate to anyone.
Don't worry about history beyond grade-school levels, it doesn't matter. I think if Coppola wanted to stick to a history lesson, she would have been making a movie that does not fit her style. So, I am proud of her for sticking to her own style, but she really needed to give us more than a stylized, long-playing music video. Marie may have truly been a very interesting person, but it was not finalized in the movie. She looked interesting, she began to get more interesting, but like her husband, I lost interest.
I hate to say this was not worth the money, because it really started off with some very appealing ideas, but before it was all over for Marie, it was all over for the movie-goer. It definitely is NOT over for Kirsten Dunst. She is a beautiful actress and pulls off playing a 15 year old beautifully as well as a 30+ mother. But not even Kirsten can save Marie.