Good but Flawed

Rating: Null/10 (26 February 2008)

Marie Antoinette (2006)
*** (out of 4)
Sofia Coppola's highly impressive look at the life of the title character played here by Kirsten Dunst. I wasn't overly familiar with the subject matter but I found Coppola's screenplay and direction to be highly interesting. I haven't seen any of the director's previous films but from the interviews I've seen she seems to be a very strong woman and that certainly shines through with the way she tells the story of Antoinette. From the very start of the film it seems as if Coppola is rolling her eyes at the way the future Queen had to change her life in order to fit certain rules. Antoinette is one of the most hated women in history so I found it interesting that Coppola was able to show something else with keeping the reasons why she was hated at the time. I think she shows the Queen as a very strong woman who just got thrown into something bigger than what she could undertake. I'm not a huge fan of Dunst but she does a very good job here. I think a better actress could have done more with the role but I don't think that was needed in this film. Jason Schwartzman is only mildly interesting but Judy Davis and Asia Argento are very good in their roles. I think the second half of the film is a major drop from the first half but this is still a very interesting and beautiful looking film.