Kirsten plays Marie Antoinette beautifully!

Rating: 8/10 (19 August 2006)

I got the chance to see this film recently, and I loved it. Sofia Coppola did an excellent job making the novel into a film, and making the film totally interesting and engaging for a modern audience.
Let me stress: the historical accuracy of the film was not done too well. There are many scenes in which I was banging my head thinking: "If only they had done this instead!" Although, I wonder how much of it was done intentionally. You can tell from the trailers that the music is NOT historical, instead, it is a mix of modern pop and rock music that manages to fit and blend into the scenes wonderfully. It was a little difficult to get used to, but overall was a good idea.
Kirsten Dunst is fabulous as Marie. Hollywood has a reoccurring theme of older actresses playing younger characters, but Kirsten pulls this off magnificently. She has a very young face, and looks the part of the innocent and childish Antoine. As the film progresses, we watch Marie grow up, and Kirsten manages to achieve this wonderfully. Her character is always very childish and playful, and she is perfect in the role.
The costumes and sets were exquisite! Rarely have I seen such opulence in a film. The original Marie Anoinette with Norma Sheerer was an over budget film that had totally obscene costumes, so I expected something similar. However, the costumes were pretty right on, except that Marie would have worn larger panniers, (those hoops on her hips) that would have forced her to walk sideways through the doors. Her wigs would also have been larger and more...excessive, but overall, I thought the costumes were lovely. I love the colors! The sets were gorgeous as well, filmed mostly in France, this film was decadent. Versilles was gorgeous! The food was absolutely delicious, I found myself eating tons of Godiva chocolate after the film! This is a great adaptation of the novel, and a highly engaging film that tells the true story of Marie Antoinette. She was highly criticized as a queen, but this films seems to really show what the courts were like, and how impossible it would have been to do any better. Besides NOT seeing her be beheaded, this film totally captured my attention and had me giggling all the way through.