Coppola Flashes It Up.

Rating: 5/10 (19 June 2015)

Marie Antoinette (2006): Dir: Sophia Coppola / Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Judy Davis, Rip Torn, Steve Coogan: Controversial story about the teenage French Queen given in marriage to King Louis XVI. Several things become apparent throughout her reign. First, she is too young to understand the corny and sometimes ridiculous traditions. Second, her lifestyle led to constant scandal. Third, her marriage was loveless and unfeeling, which resulted in pressure from higher officials. Sophia Coppola previously made the marvelous Lost in Translation, and here she has fun with some of the lifestyles. However the third act feels incomplete and she seems to pile too much information in at once before viewers can digest what has already taken place. Kirsten Dunst carries the film as Antoinette in her colourful fashion and the hole she is about to fall into. Flat performances by Jason Schwartzman as Louis XVI in what seems to be miscasting, as well as Judy Davis and Rip Torn who can do better than this. Coppola makes great use of colour in her sets and locations but the screenplay falters in lunacy. Here is a film with such potential yet is seems to go in another direction with no real focus or aim in its marketing. Sets are colourful adding to the lifestyles and customs but the real issue is someone too young placed into a world too old to understand. Score: 5 ½ / 10