An excellent parallel between THEN and NOW.

Rating: 9/10 (30 December 2006)

'Marie Antoinette' is an amazing accomplishment. It combines visual splendour with a surprisingly economic screenplay. It is CINEMATIC, in the sense that it is not dialogue driven. The images say it all from the wide canvas of grandeur to intimate moments. The film commences with a clear statement via the modern music track. This is not another conventional period piece film about THEN. This is about NOW. This is about a girl with a well meaning character and a fondness for gentle tactile things (like her pet) caught up in a non-tactile cynical world of politics, like a lamb to the slaughter. The rest is history. My point is that the film depicts any one of us living in a time of wealth and self-indulgence and designer labels, while three-quarters of the world are 'have-nots'. It is a surprisingly stylish and non-sensational film (by American standards), focusing on the cocoon life style of any privileged person who postpones the realities awaiting us, coming at our door from the 'have-nots', through no fault of our own, except through our denial of the reality outside our cocoon. Congrats to all involved, especially Kirsten Dunst who held the picture, and the uncompromising quality from the Production Design and Wardrobe departments. I ignored the awkward mix of accents, and applaud the casting of minor characters and extras who conveyed jaded vipers a la francaise.