This has to be the girliest movie ever. The French didn't think it was an accurate biopic of the young wife of the King Louis XVI, but that's missing the point. The film is more about what it was like to be Sofia Coppola growing up in a Hollywood royal family. surrounded by luxury and such regal characters as her father Francis Ford Coppola and her cousin Nicholas Cage, in the 1980s, complete with KROQ classics like "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow and "Hong Kong Garden" by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
My sons each watched thirty seconds of it independently, then both announced Marie Antoinette deserved to have her head chopped off. Personally I liked it exactly because you don't get to see such a purely feminine film often: "Clueless" at Versailles.
My sons each watched thirty seconds of it independently, then both announced Marie Antoinette deserved to have her head chopped off. Personally I liked it exactly because you don't get to see such a purely feminine film often: "Clueless" at Versailles.
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
My girlfriends favorite movie is '300'. Hmmm...maybe its time to move on. :0
ReplyDeleteI watched the movie to please my wife, but the fashion, food, and Versailles were so visually appealing, I got drawn into it. I could see that the movie was really about adolescent decadence, and I thought the 80s music was selected simply to support this theme. But of course, Coppola was a princess, so it makes perfect sense.
ReplyDeleteI previously commented on the novelty of Sophia Coppola's feminine perspective, which is more obvious in Marie Antoinette than her earlier films. Juxtaposing modern accents (the rock soundtrack, etc.) with historical Versaille gave MA a unique feel. The presentation of Marie's personality essentially as that of a chic, Vogue reading young woman of 2007 tossed into the lap of luxury really caused me (for the very first time) to think about Marie the person and not Marie the historical figure (i.e. Marie Antoinette followed by 3 masculine bullet points). The movie is more valuable as history than a meticulously researched, well written biography of the usual type. It passes my good movie criteria of novelty, lacking actor/director self consciousness, and trafficking in feelings rather than thoughts.
ReplyDeleteTo follow up, I'm not sure that the movie is meant to call to mind a Hollywood princess period. For one thing, the soundtrack in all Sophia Coppola's movies seems very personal (consisting of 70s and 80s music she grew up with). I don't think the movie is a narcissistic romp on the theme: "what if I was Marie Antoinette?". Asking that question, though, helps to understand Marie the person and that Marie was a person.
ReplyDeleteAlso, SC's interview by Terry Gross on Fresh Air (which would have been a star power headliner but was edited down to 8 minutes or something and stuck at the back of the show) is funny. The pink panties question and response calls to mind Bob Costas' (gen gap) consternation over gen-X winter olympians not being all that worked up about going for the gold.
ReplyDeleteI've considered renting it, but I don't think I can get past watching Jason Schwartzman in a leading role. That guy is a fine example of familial artistic talent regressing to the mean.
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with girly movies. I don't enjoy them but there's no reason the ladies can't have a little fun of their own.
ReplyDeleteBut we dont want them to have TOO much fun on their own,now,do we?
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