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About this product
Product Information
Sofia Coppola follows up her Oscar-winning LOST IN TRANSLATION with her most ambitious effort yet. Based on the book MARIE ANTOINETTE: THE JOURNEY by Antonia Fraser, Coppola's film infuses modern pop-culture elements into a regal, historical biopic, resulting in a strikingly original work. Kirsten Dunst plays Marie Antoinette, a 14-year-old Austrian who is about to wed France's next king, Louis XVI (a fattened-up Jason Schwartzman). Her new life is a constant barrage of pomp and circumstance, which baffles the otherwise ordinary teenager. While love has nothing to do with the union between Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, producing an offspring does. Unfortunately, Louis XVI shows no interest in having a physical relationship with his willing wife. Instead, Marie Antoinette begins to embrace her life of royalty, biding her time by shopping and partying and living the life of a spoiled teenager. As time passes, Louis XVI works out his problems and soon the couple has begun to bear children. But eventually, the impoverished French people become fed up with the disparity of wealth between the royal family and the average Frenchman, unleashing a revolt that would change the course of history forever.Coppola's decision to use a modern pop-music soundtrack (Bow Wow Wow, the Strokes) is bold, to be sure, yet it is the type of personal choice that rings firmly true. Another brave decision was to let her well-assembled cast (including Judy Davis, Danny Huston, Rip Torn, Asia Argento, and Marianne Faithful) speak in their natural accents. Decisions like these are what make MARIE ANTOINETTE such a personal, distinct work, proving that Coppola only continues to grow as an artist.This film was selected for inclusion in the 44th New York Film Festival organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
Product Identifiers
UPC
0043396159105
eBay Product ID (ePID)
56838064
Product Key Features
Actor
Judy Davis, Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Steve Coogan
Director
SOFIA Coppola
Rating
PG-13
Format
DVD
Release Year
2007
Movie/TV Title
Marie Antoinette
Sub-Genre
Biography
Genre
Drama
Additional Product Features
Number of Discs
1
Country/Region of Manufacture
USA
LeafCats
617
Film Country
USA
Leading Role
Judy Davis, Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Steve Coogan
A beautify crafted time period piece with a modern spin
Third film, Marie Antoinette, had the same vision as her last two films but this time the film is a period piece and is telling a story of a famous historical figure of Marie Antoinette, the Austrian princess who became the Queen of France under King Louis XVI of 1768. The film mostly focuses on the naïve princess who makes a transformation into not only a Queen but a woman faces the challenges she conquers till her death. Kirsten Dunst did a great job showing us how ungrateful and empty headed Marie really was, you start to realize that Marie really didn’t care so much of the throne she simply wanted to live a lavish life and life for the moment. Though we see all of the negative flaws of her, we see the good heart for not only her children, but her friends, and family. Sometimes you get in a position you don’t really want but you try to make the best of it, but unfortunately no one wanted to see that which is why the monarchy crumble. The movie was good with the fabulous costumes and the great modern day music which I loved, there wasn’t much dialogue but the body language and mood of the actors showed otherwise.Read full review
I've read many if the negative reviews of this film and it appears they are based on an unfortunate American standard of bio flicks or period pieces.
Since when do American audiences demand historical accuracy in motion pictures? This is film is not trying to replace some college level special studies course in French History, it is Sophia Coppola's "vision" of the story upon which it is based.
Sophia Coppola has inherited her father's mastery of the visual and her mother's keen documentary storytelling sensibilities.
This film won't do the thinking for you. So, if you miss the storyline, perhaps Borat is more your style.
Coppola had to make some concessions to accuracy, (like the use of clearly American actors to play 18th century French nobility) but this does not detract enough from the film to make it anything less than good.
Cinematographically, the film is a masterpiece, each scene could win an award in visual appeal alone.
Copploa's use of modern music is bold. I've always felt the harpsichord produces musical vomit, so hearing Siouxsie and the Banshees in its place is a welcomed alternative.
This movie is a success if only one viewer is inspired to find out more about the title character, her life, times or any other part of French or World history.Read full review
Lavish staging could not save this movie. The central character, Marie Antoinette, was portrayed by an actor who looked the part but failed to convey a believable screen rendition of the historical queen. An attempted french accent would have went a long way to bolster the character. Paltrow and Witherspoon displayed enough talent to accent their character in the Shakespeare in Love and Vanity Fair. Also, the director just didn't quite know the net effect of blending modern "rock music" to a historical staging of french royalty; it just didn't work, in bad taste. No wonder the french audience at Cannes loudly boo'd this picture, they were the critical viewers, after all who but the french knew best what works with their culture and what does not. Yes, we americans, who are so mindless and insensitive of other cultures, liked the movie, why not isn't it "cool". As long as we are entertained, why should be care if it denigrates them, those frenchie!
But, truthfully, I must admit that I liked it, more for the visual effects than the story. The real story, by the way, ended in a very gory chapter of french history and the director took the coward's way out and did not get into the dramatics of Marie's and Louie's bloody demise. Perhaps the audience in Cannes and elsewhere would not have been so upset and loud in their disapproval if the true ending had been enacted with the "exécution par la décapitation". Well, why not? the oblique distortion of the story in this movie could have been justified if Coppola had taken a sudden and very acute dramatic turn with the ultimate and shocking end of poor Marie and Louie.
R HillRead full review
This film does some great things, but it is also a very difficult story in which to immerse yourself. I don't think I truly cared about the characters until at least halfway through the film, when the walls started coming down, and their various humanities were revealed. I realize this was intentional - a parallel with the rigid social system of court at Versailles - but it made the film difficult.
Then again, other truly intelligent things this film did made it difficult to view. When the movie began, I wondered if I had not accidentally popped in a copy of St. Elmo's Fire or The Breakfast Club. The music in this film is exactly what you wouldn't expect out of a period piece - it is more what you would expect from a Molly Ringwald movie. But, again, I understand why this was done: it was meant to jar the viewer, to make him/her/it uncomfortable. Just as Marie was forced to leave behind everything familiar in her world when she travelled from Austria to France, the viewer is forced to abandon the tropes and traditions of this genre. The music, the camerawork, the acting, the direction is all very post-modern and at times over the top.
I found it a challenge to rate this film, and I admit to switching from every number between two and five before settling (uncomfortably) where I did. Very appropriate for a movie that takes you so far out of your comfort zone.
To clarify my seeming ambivalence, I love the film; I think it is a brilliant addition to film theory, something that will stay with us for a long time. However, when reviewing a film for eBay, I also have to take into account the entertainment factor. How entertaining was this movie? Was it something you could turn off your mind for, and view while you relax from a day of having to concentrate for the sake of your livelihood?
No, this film takes effort - effort you might not havein you at the end of a long day at the proverbial coal mines. Just like Lost in Translation, another brilliant film by Sophia Coppola that requires your every attention. It's not a story for any but the most precocious children/teens, and even most adults will have switched to the action movie they also rented before the film is halfway through.
Luckily for parents who would like to expose their children to a more thoughtful film, the gossip about Kirsten Dunst doing some exposing of her own is a whole lot of unsubstantiated hype (you see her rear end, and then there are some shots of her semi-sheer cotton night dresses from the waist up - nothing you wouldn't see twenty times per issue of Cosmopolitan or Maxim). There are some adult themes, as well, but the discussions circumlocute or euphemize; much talk there is indeed about keys and locks, and other suggestive, but easily seen as innocent, topics.
In the end, the decision is up to you. If you love films that take a little effort and pay off in the end, then this is a great choice for you. If you just want to be entertained, try Little Miss Sunshine, or The Guardian, because Marie Antoinette is not the film for you!Read full review