Marie Antionette Film Review
This post is about the 2006 movie Marie Antoinette, which was both written and directed by Sofia Coppola. For a brief overview, this movie follows a young woman by the name of Marie Antoinette that is being thrown into the life of royalty in France. It is clear right from the very beginning that Marie does not really fit in with all of the other people already in France and it is a little awkward. She is not used to all the riches and constant eyes of everyone around on her all the time. There are people there when she goes to sleep, wakes up, eats, etc. However, after some time, she starts to have some fun with the money that she now has. She starts to buy many things and gamble and the money that France has is slowly but surely depleting. Unfortunately, that was not her only issue. Her relationship with her husband is a strange one at best. The entire country is counting on them to produce an heir, but the awkwardness and unwillingness coming from the king to basically engage at all with his wife makes that task very difficult. After some time, they do eventually have two children, first one was a daughter and then a son. Things quickly go downhill however, when the money that France has, is no longer there. Marie Antoinette spent all the money resulting in a very unhappy country and its residents coming to raid the royalty. The movie does not show Marie's death, but she ends up getting beheaded for high treason.
My personal opinion on the movie was that it was a really cool point of view of someone who doesn't exactly fit in where she is expected. It is clear from the beginning that Marie is kind of naive of what is expected of her and what her new life is going to be like. She seems like a very kind hearted person who is just trying to live her life. She is constantly shocked by everything that is done for her and everyone who answers to her that it is kind of endearing. I feel like normally someone who is queen or going to be would know what to expect. Marie Antoinette is just kind of giddy with the new found power that she has, but at the same time she is uneasy with it. I think that all of the costumes and set designs for the movie played a big role in making it really feel like the late 1700s. There are different dresses in every scene and every room that they go in is very detailed and put together. It is clear that a lot of thought and effort was put into every single shot that went into making the movie what it is. I honestly really like how the movie does not show her death, because throughout most of it, Marie is very happy and just kind of enjoying life. The movie already had a not great ending with the people of France coming to their home and ruining the building, so just adding more on top of it would have been a lot. Enough was said with her going away in the carriage in the end and I think it was a perfect way to end the movie.
Sofia Coppola clearly had a great vision for the movie and I believe that she did a great job making it come to life. There were many intentional shots that I thought were very interesting as well. An example is that the first time that Marie Antoinette clapped in the theater. It was a moving moment when she started the clapping trend. It was so silent in the theater, but when she decided the performers needed some applause, everyone else hopped on the idea. I think that this scene was an intentional add because it came full circle in the end, when the country was no longer with the Queen. She started clapping, just as she usually would, and this time no one else joined in. Instead they just stared at her, creating a very hostile environment. It was symbolic of the fact that her country was not happy with her at all. It was already very clear that Marie no longer had the respect of the peasants, but Sofia Coppola felt it important to add this scene to show the change from the beginning of the movie to the end.
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