interesting perspective on Marie Antoinette but a bit ahistoric

Rating: 6/10 (30 August 2006)

I watched the movie this spring in Paris and was frankly a bit disappointed, although there were some things about the movie that I did like.
What I like about the movie is it's new take on Marie Antoinette's life in Versailles. I found it interesting how the movie sought to portray her life from her perspective, as in a young Austrian girl being thrust into the complicated and pompous court life of Versailles and feeling lost and overwhelmed in the middle of it all. From this perspective, Marie Antoinette is portrayed as a young woman like any other yearning for happiness, friendship, fun, and love, and being disappointed due to her somewhat reserved husband and all the intrigues going on at the Versailles court. For instance, I found that the scene where Kirsten Dunst is shown partying with her court friends and watching the sunset together as capturing very well what it feels like to be young and have fun when hanging out with friends. The music and the scenes came together really well to capture the young lively energy that is associated with being young.
Even though the movie has drawn the most criticism for its ahistorical nature, the movie capturers well that nothing has changed much in the past few centuries, and that young women have the same needs: to have fun, enjoy fashion, and yearn for love and affection. For instance, the sequences in the film that show all the Manolo Blahnik shows and Marie Antoinette's obsession with fashion reads like a contemporary music video documenting fashion and music.
The movie's soundtrack is definitely a gem for those fond of 80's and french classical music and I can't wait for the soundtrack! The movie's use of 80's tune also reminded me of the movie "plunkett and Maccleane" with iv Tyler, which managed to merge contemporary electronic music beautifully with costume drama.
As mentioned before, the movie unfortunately does lack a more well defined historical context, as Marie Anotinnette seems far removed from the social and political roots that resulted in the French revolution. Much of the era's historical happenings are put in the background although the these are tossed in once in a while.
Due to lack of more comprehensive historical consideration and context, Marie Anotinnette is portrayed a bit too sympathetically, as my impression is that Coppola wanted to portray her as an innocent young girl just thrown in the chaos that is the French revolution and having nothing to do with the revolution. Even though I am not all that familiar with French history, it is commonly known that Marie Anotinette's exuberant and lavish lifestyle was instrumental in stirring up dissatisfaction and unrest among the mob and peasants, which ultimately led to the French revolution.
my take on the film is: it's a fun movie for those looking for a lighthearted costume drama with cool music but not one for those looking for more serious historical context.