This movie may not be for everyone. It divided critics and was famously "booed" at the Cannes film festival when it premiered. However, despite its flaws, it remains one of my most recent favorites due to a haunting and breathtaking New Wave soundtrack, beautiful costumes, and a great performance from its leading lady.
I am talking about director Sofia Coppola's third film, Marie Antoinette. This 2005 film based on the life of the infamous historical figure, was Coppola's first film after winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the brilliant, modern classic Lost in Translation (which also earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Director). Marie Antoinette, despite receiving mixed reviews, still went on to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design after competing for the top prize at Cannes.
The most remarkable thing about Sofia Coppola is how personal and human she makes her films. She uses every shot to suck the audience in---to make viewers feel exactly what her characters are feeling. As opposed to simply telling a story, Coppola captures a series of moments. The camerawork in her films mimics how we view our day to day lives: dancing in crowds, staring through windows, and peering between blades of grass. Marie Antoinette's cinematography and soundtrack (which includes a slew of retro and indie hits such as "Plainsong" by The Cure and "Pulling Our Weight" by The Radio Department) create some of most beautiful moments I have ever seen on screen. And these moments are quiet and understated---they capture Marie Antoinette's loneliness and her youthfulness. They capture a desire to be free and a desire to live.
I'm not sure how she does it, but Sofia Coppola makes me understand everything that is running through her characters' minds. The nostalgic, misty, indie music curiously reminds me of my own memories; when watching the film, I feel as if I have been to all of these places, and I have experienced all of these things. When Marie Antoinette is sitting by the lake, watching the sunrise with her band of young, Versailles friends, I know what this is like and what it feels to be there, to breath in the early morning air, and to feel the conflicted thoughts the young ruler must have felt, living with all that power, yet feeling empty and longing for more.
I challenge you not to be swept up by this film. Some films keep you at a distant. Not this one. Coppola wants you there, living and breathing the story. She doesn't just want you to see it. She wants you to understand it. Every time there is a shot of Kirsten Dunst (who plays Marie Antoinette) sticking her hand out of the carriage window as it rides through the forest, or spinning around like a teenager at a high school dance in the middle of Versailles, or pointing to a fluttering bee in the grass, Coppola is whispering "See? See?"
Of course, the film would be nothing without Dunst, who steals the show and makes you love--yes love--the infamous Antoinette. Dunst is always natural and flirtatious in her roles, but it is the underlying despair and loneliness in her gaze that makes her such an impressive and compelling actress to watch. Compare her performance here with her work in Coppola's directorial debut The Virgin Suicides. She giggles, smiles, and parts her hair all the way through, and charms the viewers to the very end.
While Lost in Translation remains Coppola's greatest work, Marie Antoinette is still an example of her genius. The opening sequence with "Natural's Not In It" and the juxtaposition between 1980's New Wave and the historical setting are just enough to marvel at Coppola's innovative mind and to say, "Why didn't anyone else think of that?"
Rating: 5/5-"Masterpiece"
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