Marie Antoinette (2006 film)
Encyclopedia
Marie Antoinette is a 2006 biographical film
, written and directed by Sofia Coppola
. It is very loosely based on the life of the Queen consort
in the years leading up to the French Revolution
. It won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. It was released in the United States on October 20, 2006, by Columbia Pictures
.
(Kirsten Dunst
) is the beautiful, charming, but naïve, youngest daughter of Austria
n empress Maria Theresa
(Marianne Faithfull
). In 1768, she is selected by her mother to marry the Dauphin of France
, Louis XVI
(Jason Schwartzman
), thereby sealing an alliance between the two rival countries.
Marie Antoinette travels to France, relinquishing all connections with her home country, and meets Louis XV
(Rip Torn
) and her future husband, the Dauphin. The two are married shortly thereafter. Toasts are drunk to their happy marriage and they are encouraged to produce an heir as soon as possible, but the next day it is reported that "nothing happened" on their wedding night.
As time passes, Marie Antoinette, who is never without an unwanted entourage of servants and noblewomen, begins to find life at the court of Versailles
stifling. Her husband's courtiers disdain her as a foreigner – an Austria
n, no less – and consistently blame her for not having produced an heir.
The French court is rife with gossip, and Marie Antoinette consistently ruffles feathers by defying its ritualistic formality: she accompanies her husband and his friends on hunting excursions, claps at the opera
, and often snubs other members of the aristocracy and royal family.
Over the years, Maria Theresa continues to write to her daughter, giving advice on how to impress and seduce the Dauphin, and also advises her to stop snubbing Madame du Barry
(Asia Argento
) (Louis XV's mistress, and a commoner of low birth, who is widely disliked at court), as this is akin to criticizing the King's behavior. Marie Antoinette finally speaks to Madame du Barry, remarking at a reception that, "There are a lot of people at Versailles today", although as she leaves with her husband, she remarks that those would be the last words she would ever say to du Barry.
Marie Antoinette gradually begins to adjust to her new life, surrounding herself with a few close confidantes. She finds solace in buying elaborate gowns and shoes, eating lavish pastries, and gambling with her ladies. One night, she, her husband, and some friends go incognito to a masked ball in Paris
, where she meets Count Axel von Fersen (Jamie Dornan), a Swedish
count.
When his predecessor dies, Louis XVI is crowned king of France, and both he and his wife express fear at being too young and inexperienced to reign.
Despite the growing poverty and unrest among the French working class, Marie Antoinette maintains her extravagant lifestyle, while Louis continues to invest in foreign conflicts such as the American Revolution
, sending France further and further into debt.
Marie Antoinette's brother, the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II
(Danny Huston
) comes to visit, counseling her against her constant parties and associations, advice that she ignores. Joseph then meets the King at the Royal Zoo and explains to him the "mechanics" of sexual intercourse in terms of "key-making" – as one of the King's favorite hobbies is locksmithing
. That night, the King and Marie Antoinette have sex for the first time, and on December 18, 1778, the young queen gives birth to a girl, Marie Thérèse
. As the baby princess grows up, Marie Antoinette spends much of her time at the Petit Trianon
, a small chateau on the grounds of Versailles. It is also at this time that she begins an affair with von Fersen.
As France's fiscal crisis worsens, food shortages and riots become commonplace. Marie Antoinette's image with her subjects has completely deteriorated by this point: her luxurious lifestyle and seeming indifference to the struggles of the masses earn her the title Madame Déficit. Beginning to mature, she focuses less on her social life and more on her family, and makes what she considers to be some significant financial adjustments, including a decision to stop purchasing diamond
s. A few months after her mother's death in November 1780, Marie Antoinette gives birth to a boy, Louis-Joseph, the new Dauphin. She also gives birth to a second boy, who dies shortly thereafter.
As the French Revolution
begins to erupt, the royal family resolves to stay in France, unlike much of the nobility. Rioting Parisians force the family to leave Versailles for Paris. The film ends with the royal family's transference to the Tuileries. The last image is a shot of the Queen's bedroom, destroyed by looters.
. The movie takes the same sympathetic view of Marie Antoinette's life as was presented in Fraser's biography. Coppola has stated that the style for shooting was heavily influenced by the films of Stanley Kubrick
, Terrence Malick
, and Milos Forman
, Coppola was also influenced by Lisztomania by Ken Russell
.
While the action happens in Versailles (including the Queen's Petit Trianon
and the Hameau de la reine) and the Paris Opera (which was built after the death of the real Marie Antoinette), some scenes were also shot in Vaux-le-Vicomte
, Château de Chantilly
, Hôtel de Soubise
and at the Belvedere
in Vienna.
Milena Canonero
and six assistant designers created the gowns, hats, suits and prop costume pieces. Ten rental houses were also employed, and the wardrobe unit had seven transport drivers. Shoes were made by Manolo Blahnik
and Pompei
, and hundreds of wigs and hair pieces were made by Rocchetti & Rocchetti. As revealed in the "Making of" documentary on the DVD, the look of Count von Fersen was influenced by 1980s rock star Adam Ant
. Ladurée
made the pastries for the film; its famous macaron
s are featured in a scene between Marie-Antoinette and Ambassador Mercy.
and post-punk
bands New Order
, Gang of Four
, The Cure
, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bow Wow Wow
, Adam and the Ants
, The Strokes
, Dustin O’Halloran
and The Radio Dept.
Some scenes utilize period music
by Jean-Philippe Rameau
, Antonio Vivaldi
and François Couperin
. The soundtrack also includes songs by electronic
musicians Squarepusher
and Aphex Twin
.
(see below).
magazine's movie critic, Leah Rozen, wrote in her wrap-up of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
that, "The absence of political context, however, upset most critics of Marie Antoinette, director Sofia Coppola's featherweight follow-up to Lost in Translation
. Her historical biopic plays like a pop video, with Kirsten Dunst as the doomed 18th century French queen acting like a teenage flibbertigibbet
intent on being the leader of the cool kids' club."
American film critic Roger Ebert
gave the film four stars out of four. He states that, "every criticism I have read of this film would alter its fragile magic and reduce its romantic and tragic poignancy to the level of an instructional film. This is Sofia Coppola's third film centering on the loneliness of being female and surrounded by a world that knows how to use you but not how to value and understand you."
On the Rotten Tomatoes
website, which compiles mostly North America
n reviews, the film has been given a "rotten" rating with 55 percent of contributing critics giving it positive reviews.
The Metacritic
site lists the film as having received "mainly positive" reviews with 65% of critics contributing such reviews.
called the film "Versailles in Hollywood sauce", but "with lovely colours" (Le Journal du Dimanche), "funny" (Le Parisien) "the microcosm of political power metamorphosed in a sanctuary of sensuality...a delicate look on teenager years"
According to historian and Marie-Antoinette specialist Evelyne Lever, "The movie is very far from history". She wrote that the film's characterization of Marie Antoinette lacked psychological development: "In the movie Marie-Antoinette is the same from 14 to 33 (…)In reality, she did not spend her time drinking champagne and eating pastry (…) The film makers of Barry Lyndon
, The Madness of King George
were able to show this period because they were closed to the culture they described".
Le Monde
disdained Marie Antoinette as "A movie dreamt by a Miss California", "kitsch and rococo
" with "gossip playground dialogues" showing "a kind of Lady Di" a "Lost in Translation
queen". The latter criticism references Coppola's previous film, Lost in Translation
.
Other criticisms include:
, and has grossed around $61 million worldwide, making it one of the few underperformers for distributor Columbia that year. The film made over $7 million in France, where the film is set, but fared less well in the United Kingdom
, where it took only $1,727,858 at the box office.
version of the movie was released on February 13, 2007. Special features on the disc included a "making of" featurette, two deleted scenes and a brief parody segment of MTV Cribs
, featuring Jason Schwartzman as Louis XVI of France
. The Region 2 DVD version, including the same special features, was released on February 26, 2007. No commentary was available for the DVD. In France, the double-disc edition included additional special features: Sofia Coppola's first short movie, Lick the Star
, and a BBC
documentary film on Marie Antoinette. A collector's edition boxset, entitled "Coffret Royal", was also released in France, and included the double-disc edition of the movie, Antonia Fraser
's biography, photographs and a fan
. The Japan
ese edition was released on July 19. This two-disc edition included the same extra features as the North American release, though it also included the American, European and Japanese theatrical trailers and Japanese TV spots. A limited-edition special Japanese boxed set contained the two disc DVD set, a jewellery box, a Swarovski
high-heeled shoe brooch, a hand mirror, and a lace handkerchief.
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
, written and directed by Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Carmina Coppola is an American screenwriter, film director, actress, and producer.In 2003 she received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation, and became the third woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing...
. It is very loosely based on the life of the Queen consort
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
in the years leading up to the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. It won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. It was released in the United States on October 20, 2006, by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
.
Plot
Fourteen-year-old Maria Antonia Josepha JoannaMarie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
(Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
) is the beautiful, charming, but naïve, youngest daughter of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n empress Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
(Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
). In 1768, she is selected by her mother to marry the Dauphin of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
(Jason Schwartzman
Jason Schwartzman
Jason Francesco Schwartzman is an American actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Rushmore, Spun, I Heart Huckabees, Shopgirl, Marie Antoinette, The Darjeeling Limited, Funny People, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World...
), thereby sealing an alliance between the two rival countries.
Marie Antoinette travels to France, relinquishing all connections with her home country, and meets Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
(Rip Torn
Rip Torn
Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn, Jr. , is an American actor of stage, screen and television.Torn received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross Creek. His work includes the role of Artie, the producer, on The Larry Sanders Show, for which he was nominated...
) and her future husband, the Dauphin. The two are married shortly thereafter. Toasts are drunk to their happy marriage and they are encouraged to produce an heir as soon as possible, but the next day it is reported that "nothing happened" on their wedding night.
As time passes, Marie Antoinette, who is never without an unwanted entourage of servants and noblewomen, begins to find life at the court of Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
stifling. Her husband's courtiers disdain her as a foreigner – an Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n, no less – and consistently blame her for not having produced an heir.
The French court is rife with gossip, and Marie Antoinette consistently ruffles feathers by defying its ritualistic formality: she accompanies her husband and his friends on hunting excursions, claps at the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, and often snubs other members of the aristocracy and royal family.
Over the years, Maria Theresa continues to write to her daughter, giving advice on how to impress and seduce the Dauphin, and also advises her to stop snubbing Madame du Barry
Madame du Barry
Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:...
(Asia Argento
Asia Argento
Aria Asia Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model and director.-Family and early life:...
) (Louis XV's mistress, and a commoner of low birth, who is widely disliked at court), as this is akin to criticizing the King's behavior. Marie Antoinette finally speaks to Madame du Barry, remarking at a reception that, "There are a lot of people at Versailles today", although as she leaves with her husband, she remarks that those would be the last words she would ever say to du Barry.
Marie Antoinette gradually begins to adjust to her new life, surrounding herself with a few close confidantes. She finds solace in buying elaborate gowns and shoes, eating lavish pastries, and gambling with her ladies. One night, she, her husband, and some friends go incognito to a masked ball in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where she meets Count Axel von Fersen (Jamie Dornan), a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
count.
When his predecessor dies, Louis XVI is crowned king of France, and both he and his wife express fear at being too young and inexperienced to reign.
Despite the growing poverty and unrest among the French working class, Marie Antoinette maintains her extravagant lifestyle, while Louis continues to invest in foreign conflicts such as the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, sending France further and further into debt.
Marie Antoinette's brother, the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
(Danny Huston
Danny Huston
-Early life:Huston was born in Rome, Italy. He hails from the illustrious Huston acting and filmmaking dynasty. He is the son of legendary director John Huston, half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston and screenwriter Tony Huston, uncle of actor Jack Huston, stepbrother of Allegra Huston, and...
) comes to visit, counseling her against her constant parties and associations, advice that she ignores. Joseph then meets the King at the Royal Zoo and explains to him the "mechanics" of sexual intercourse in terms of "key-making" – as one of the King's favorite hobbies is locksmithing
Locksmithing
Locksmithing began as the science and art of making and defeating locks. A lock is a mechanism that secures buildings, rooms, cabinets, objects, or other storage facilities. A key is often used to open a lock...
. That night, the King and Marie Antoinette have sex for the first time, and on December 18, 1778, the young queen gives birth to a girl, Marie Thérèse
Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France
Marie Thérèse de France was the eldest child of King Louis XVI of France and his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette...
. As the baby princess grows up, Marie Antoinette spends much of her time at the Petit Trianon
Petit Trianon
The Petit Trianon is a small château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France.-Design and construction:...
, a small chateau on the grounds of Versailles. It is also at this time that she begins an affair with von Fersen.
As France's fiscal crisis worsens, food shortages and riots become commonplace. Marie Antoinette's image with her subjects has completely deteriorated by this point: her luxurious lifestyle and seeming indifference to the struggles of the masses earn her the title Madame Déficit. Beginning to mature, she focuses less on her social life and more on her family, and makes what she considers to be some significant financial adjustments, including a decision to stop purchasing diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s. A few months after her mother's death in November 1780, Marie Antoinette gives birth to a boy, Louis-Joseph, the new Dauphin. She also gives birth to a second boy, who dies shortly thereafter.
As the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
begins to erupt, the royal family resolves to stay in France, unlike much of the nobility. Rioting Parisians force the family to leave Versailles for Paris. The film ends with the royal family's transference to the Tuileries. The last image is a shot of the Queen's bedroom, destroyed by looters.
Cast
- Kirsten DunstKirsten DunstKirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
as Marie AntoinetteMarie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I.... - Steve CooganSteve CooganStephen John "Steve" Coogan is a British comedian, actor, writer and producer. Born in Manchester, he began his career as a standup comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early nineties, Coogan began creating...
as Ambassador MercyFlorimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-ArgenteauFlorimond Claude, comte de Mercy-Argenteau was an Austrian diplomat.He was the son of Antoine, comte de Mercy-Argenteau, and entered the diplomatic service of Austria going to Paris in the train of Reichsfürst Kaunitz... - Judy DavisJudy DavisJudy Davis is an Australian actress best known for her roles in Husbands and Wives, Barton Fink, A Passage to India and in the TV miniseries Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows....
as Comtesse de Noailles - Jason SchwartzmanJason SchwartzmanJason Francesco Schwartzman is an American actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Rushmore, Spun, I Heart Huckabees, Shopgirl, Marie Antoinette, The Darjeeling Limited, Funny People, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World...
as King Louis XVI - Rip TornRip TornElmore Rual "Rip" Torn, Jr. , is an American actor of stage, screen and television.Torn received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross Creek. His work includes the role of Artie, the producer, on The Larry Sanders Show, for which he was nominated...
as King Louis XV - Rose ByrneRose ByrneMary Rose Byrne is an Australian actress.Byrne made her screen debut in 1994 with a small role in the film Dallas Doll...
as Duchesse de PolignacGabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de PolignacYolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac was the favourite of Marie Antoinette, whom she first met when she was presented at the Palace of Versailles in 1775, the year after Marie Antoinette became the Queen of France... - Asia ArgentoAsia ArgentoAria Asia Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model and director.-Family and early life:...
as Madame du BarryMadame du BarryJeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:... - Molly ShannonMolly ShannonMolly Helen Shannon is an American comic actress best known for her work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1995–2001 and for starring in the films Superstar and Year of the Dog. More recently, she starred in NBC's Kath & Kim from 2008–2009 and on the TBS animated series Neighbors from...
as Aunt Victoire - Shirley HendersonShirley HendersonShirley Henderson is a Scottish actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire .-Early life:...
as Aunt SophiePrincess Sophie-Philippine of FranceSophie Philippine Élisabeth Justine de France, fille de France was a French princesse du sang. She was the sixth daughter and eighth child of Louis XV of France and his Queen consort Marie Leszczyńska. First known as Madame Sixième, she later became Madame Sophie.-Biography:Sophie is less well... - Danny HustonDanny Huston-Early life:Huston was born in Rome, Italy. He hails from the illustrious Huston acting and filmmaking dynasty. He is the son of legendary director John Huston, half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston and screenwriter Tony Huston, uncle of actor Jack Huston, stepbrother of Allegra Huston, and...
as Emperor Joseph IIJoseph II, Holy Roman EmperorJoseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I... - Marianne FaithfullMarianne FaithfullMarianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
as Maria TheresaMaria Theresa of AustriaMaria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma... - Mary NighyMary NighyMary Nighy is an English actress and film maker. She was named one of the UK Film Council's breakthrough Brits in 2005.-Work:Nighy is director of Foster Films...
as Princesse de Lamballe - Sebastian ArmestoSebastian Armesto-Television and film:Armesto played Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in the series The Tudors. He also starred alongside Jane Asher in the 2008 ITV drama series The Palace as the King's carefree younger brother Prince George. He then played the character of Edmund Sparkler in the 2008 BBC version of...
as Louis, comte de Provence - Jamie Dornan as Count Fersen
- Aurore ClémentAurore ClémentAurore Clément is a French actress. She has performed in a number of motion pictures in both the French language and the English language as well as in television films and miniseries.-Early life:...
as Duchesse de ChartresLouise Marie Adélaïde de BourbonLouise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, Duchess of Orléans, , was the daughter of Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre and of Princess Maria Theresa Felicitas of Modena. At the death of her brother, Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, prince de Lamballe, she became the wealthiest heiress in France... - Guillaume GallienneGuillaume GallienneGuillaume Gallienne is French actor who has been a member of the Comédie-Française company from 1998. He made his film debut 1992 in Tableau d'honneur and he has starred in Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola....
as Comte de Vergennes - James LanceJames LanceJames Lance is a British actor who is best known for his appearances in a number of British comedy series. James Lance attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School...
as Léonard - Al WeaverAl WeaverAlex "Al" Weaver is an English actor.Weaver studied acting at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His first paid theatre role was in Trevor Nunn's 2004 production of Hamlet, at the Old Vic theatre in London...
as Comte d'Artois
Production
The production was given unprecedented access to the Palace of VersaillesPalace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
. The movie takes the same sympathetic view of Marie Antoinette's life as was presented in Fraser's biography. Coppola has stated that the style for shooting was heavily influenced by the films of Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
, Terrence Malick
Terrence Malick
Terrence Frederick Malick is a U.S. film director, screenwriter, and producer. In a career spanning almost four decades, Malick has directed five feature films....
, and Milos Forman
Miloš Forman
Jan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...
, Coppola was also influenced by Lisztomania by Ken Russell
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
.
While the action happens in Versailles (including the Queen's Petit Trianon
Petit Trianon
The Petit Trianon is a small château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France.-Design and construction:...
and the Hameau de la reine) and the Paris Opera (which was built after the death of the real Marie Antoinette), some scenes were also shot in Vaux-le-Vicomte
Vaux-le-Vicomte
The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte is a baroque French château located in Maincy, near Melun, 55 km southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne département of France...
, Château de Chantilly
Château de Chantilly
The Château de Chantilly is a historic château located in the town of Chantilly, France. It comprises two attached buildings; the Grand Château, destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s, and the Petit Château which was built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency...
, Hôtel de Soubise
Hôtel de Soubise
The Hôtel de Soubise is a city mansion entre cour et jardin , located at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the IIIe arrondissement of Paris....
and at the Belvedere
Belvedere (palace)
The Belvedere is a historical building complex in Vienna, Austria, consisting of two Baroque palaces the Upper and Lower Belvedere, the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the 3rd district of the city, south-east of its centre. It houses the...
in Vienna.
Milena Canonero
Milena Canonero
Milena Canonero is an Italian costume designer, working both for films and stage productions. She has won three Academy Awards for Best Costume design, and been nominated for it eight times.-Career:...
and six assistant designers created the gowns, hats, suits and prop costume pieces. Ten rental houses were also employed, and the wardrobe unit had seven transport drivers. Shoes were made by Manolo Blahnik
Manolo Blahnik
Manuel "Manolo" Blahnik Rodríguez CBE, , is a Spanish fashion designer and founder of the self-named, high-end shoe brand.-Biography:Born to a Czech father and a Spanish mother and born and raised in the Canary Islands , Blahnik graduated from the University of Geneva in 1965 and studied art in Paris...
and Pompei
L.C.P. di Pompei
L.C.P. di Pompei, often known as Ditta Pompei simply as Pompei, is an Italian manufacturer of shoes, and other costume items, for film productions. Founded in 1932 it has primarily served Cinecittà film productions. In the 1960s it manufactured classical foot gear for the numerous sword and...
, and hundreds of wigs and hair pieces were made by Rocchetti & Rocchetti. As revealed in the "Making of" documentary on the DVD, the look of Count von Fersen was influenced by 1980s rock star Adam Ant
Adam Ant
Adam Ant is an English musician who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1980 and 1983, including three No.1s...
. Ladurée
Ladurée
Ladurée is a luxury cakes and pastries brand based in :Paris, France. It is known as the inventor of the double-decker macaron, fifteen thousand of which are sold every day...
made the pastries for the film; its famous macaron
Macaron
A macaron is a sweet confectionery made with egg whites, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder or ground almond, and food coloring. The macaron is commonly filled with buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two cookies. Its name is derived from an Italian word "maccarone" or...
s are featured in a scene between Marie-Antoinette and Ambassador Mercy.
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack contains New WaveNew Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
and post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
bands New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
, Gang of Four
Gang of Four (band)
Gang of Four are an English post-punk group from Leeds. Original personnel were singer Jon King, guitarist Andy Gill, bass guitarist Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham. They were fully active from 1977 to 1984, and then re-emerged twice in the 1990s with King and Gill...
, The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow were an English 1980s New Wave band created by Malcolm McLaren to promote his and business partner Vivienne Westwood's New Romantic fashion lines.The group's music is described as having an "African-derived drum sound".-History:...
, Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were a British rock band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original group, which existed from 1977 to 1980, became notable as a cult band marking the transition from the late-1970s punk rock era to the post-punk and New Wave era...
, The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....
, Dustin O’Halloran
Dustin O’Halloran
Dustin J. O'Halloran is an American pianist and composer.He has worked with Sara Lov for Devics, and was featured on the soundtrack of the film Marie Antoinette. Additionally, he worked to create all of the music for the soundtrack of the film An American Affair...
and The Radio Dept.
The Radio Dept.
The Radio Dept. is a dream pop band from Lund, Sweden signed to Labrador Records.-History:The band was conceived in 1995 by schoolmates Elin Almered and Johan Duncanson, who named the group after a gas-station-turned-radio-repair-shop called "Radioavdelningen"...
Some scenes utilize period music
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
, Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
and François Couperin
François Couperin
François Couperin was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as Couperin le Grand to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented Couperin family.-Life:Couperin was born in Paris...
. The soundtrack also includes songs by electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
musicians Squarepusher
Squarepusher
Squarepusher is the performing pseudonym of Tom Jenkinson, an English electronic music artist signed to Warp Records. He specialises in the electronic music genres of drum and bass and acid, with a significant jazz and musique concrète influence....
and Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin
Richard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
.
Reception
In several 2006 interviews, Coppola suggests that her highly stylized interpretation was intentionally very modern in order to humanize the historical figures involved. She admitted taking great artistic liberties with the source material, and said that the film does not focus simply on historical facts – "It is not a lesson of history. It is an interpretation documented, but carried by my desire for covering the subject differently." Perhaps because of this unusual approach, the film was booed at early screenings at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival2006 Cannes Film Festival
The 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
(see below).
Reception in USA
PeoplePeople (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
magazine's movie critic, Leah Rozen, wrote in her wrap-up of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
2006 Cannes Film Festival
The 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
that, "The absence of political context, however, upset most critics of Marie Antoinette, director Sofia Coppola's featherweight follow-up to Lost in Translation
Lost in Translation (film)
Lost in Translation is a 2003 American film written and directed by Sofia Coppola; her second feature film after The Virgin Suicides and it stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson...
. Her historical biopic plays like a pop video, with Kirsten Dunst as the doomed 18th century French queen acting like a teenage flibbertigibbet
Flibbertigibbet
Flibbertigibbet is a Middle English word referring to a flighty or whimsical person, usually a young woman. In modern use, it is used as a slang term, especially in Yorkshire, for a gossipy or overly talkative person. Its origin is in a meaningless representation of chattering...
intent on being the leader of the cool kids' club."
American film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film four stars out of four. He states that, "every criticism I have read of this film would alter its fragile magic and reduce its romantic and tragic poignancy to the level of an instructional film. This is Sofia Coppola's third film centering on the loneliness of being female and surrounded by a world that knows how to use you but not how to value and understand you."
On the Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
website, which compiles mostly North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n reviews, the film has been given a "rotten" rating with 55 percent of contributing critics giving it positive reviews.
The Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
site lists the film as having received "mainly positive" reviews with 65% of critics contributing such reviews.
Reception in France
Historian Jean TulardJean Tulard
Jean Tulard is a French academic and historian, specialising in the history of cinema, of the French Consulate and the First French Empire.In April 2010, he became Commander of the Légion d'honneur.-References:...
called the film "Versailles in Hollywood sauce", but "with lovely colours" (Le Journal du Dimanche), "funny" (Le Parisien) "the microcosm of political power metamorphosed in a sanctuary of sensuality...a delicate look on teenager years"
According to historian and Marie-Antoinette specialist Evelyne Lever, "The movie is very far from history". She wrote that the film's characterization of Marie Antoinette lacked psychological development: "In the movie Marie-Antoinette is the same from 14 to 33 (…)In reality, she did not spend her time drinking champagne and eating pastry (…) The film makers of Barry Lyndon
Barry Lyndon
Barry Lyndon is a 1975 British-American period romantic war film produced, written, and directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray which recounts the exploits of an 18th century Irish adventurer...
, The Madness of King George
The Madness of King George
The Madness of King George is a 1994 film directed by Nicholas Hytner and adapted by Alan Bennett from his own play, The Madness of George III. It tells the true story of George III's deteriorating mental health, and his equally declining relationship with his son, the Prince of Wales, particularly...
were able to show this period because they were closed to the culture they described".
Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
disdained Marie Antoinette as "A movie dreamt by a Miss California", "kitsch and rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
" with "gossip playground dialogues" showing "a kind of Lady Di" a "Lost in Translation
Lost in Translation
Lost in translation may refer to:Film* Lost in Translation , a 2003 film directed by Sofia Coppola** Lost in Translation , the soundtrack accompanying the filmLiterature...
queen". The latter criticism references Coppola's previous film, Lost in Translation
Lost in Translation
Lost in translation may refer to:Film* Lost in Translation , a 2003 film directed by Sofia Coppola** Lost in Translation , the soundtrack accompanying the filmLiterature...
.
Other criticisms include:
- "The talent of Sofia Coppola is to make an american teenager girl think she can turn into a queen."
- "Versailles, by Vogue" (Score )
Box office
In the United States and Canada, the film opened with $5,361,050 in just 859 theaters, with $6,241 per theater. Nevertheless, the film quickly faded, grossing $15 million in Northern AmericaNorthern America
Northern America is the northernmost region of the Americas, and is part of the North American continent. It lies directly north of the region of Middle America; the land border between the two regions coincides with the border between the United States and Mexico...
, and has grossed around $61 million worldwide, making it one of the few underperformers for distributor Columbia that year. The film made over $7 million in France, where the film is set, but fared less well in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where it took only $1,727,858 at the box office.
Nominations and awards
| Academy Awards record | |
|---|---|
| 1. Best Costume Design, Milena Canonero Milena Canonero Milena Canonero is an Italian costume designer, working both for films and stage productions. She has won three Academy Awards for Best Costume design, and been nominated for it eight times.-Career:... |
|
- Won the Academy Award for Costume DesignAcademy Award for Costume DesignThe Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievement in film costume design....
(Milena CanoneroMilena CanoneroMilena Canonero is an Italian costume designer, working both for films and stage productions. She has won three Academy Awards for Best Costume design, and been nominated for it eight times.-Career:...
). - Nominated for three BAFTABritish Academy of Film and Television ArtsThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
awards, for Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Makeup & Hair. - At the 2006 Cannes Film Festival2006 Cannes Film FestivalThe 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
, Marie Antoinette was entry for Official Selection of Golden Palm and won the Cinema Prize of the French National Education System. - The film was nominated for Best Feature at the Gotham AwardsGotham AwardsThe Gotham Awards is an annual ceremony of awards presented to the makers of independent films which takes place in New York City...
. - Won Best Art Direction at the Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards.
- Won Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design at both the Las Vegas Film Critics SocietyLas Vegas Film Critics SocietyThe Las Vegas Film Critics Society is a non-profit organization, composed of selected print, television and internet film critics in the Las Vegas metropolitan area....
Awards and the Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards.
DVD release
The Region 1 DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
version of the movie was released on February 13, 2007. Special features on the disc included a "making of" featurette, two deleted scenes and a brief parody segment of MTV Cribs
MTV Cribs
MTV Cribs and CMT Cribs, depending on which channel it airs, is a franchise reality television program that originated on the MTV Networks' MTV. It later aired on its CMT channel that features tours of the houses and mansions of celebrities. The first show aired September 2000...
, featuring Jason Schwartzman as Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
. The Region 2 DVD version, including the same special features, was released on February 26, 2007. No commentary was available for the DVD. In France, the double-disc edition included additional special features: Sofia Coppola's first short movie, Lick the Star
Lick the Star
Lick the Star is a 14 minute long black & white 16mm film. It was the first film written and directed by Sofia Coppola, daughter of Francis Ford Coppola....
, and a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary film on Marie Antoinette. A collector's edition boxset, entitled "Coffret Royal", was also released in France, and included the double-disc edition of the movie, Antonia Fraser
Antonia Fraser
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, DBE , née Pakenham, is an Anglo-Irish author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction, best known as Antonia Fraser...
's biography, photographs and a fan
Fan (implement)
A hand-held fan is an implement used to induce an airflow for the purpose of cooling or refreshing oneself. Any broad, flat surface waved back-and-forth will create a small airflow and therefore can be considered a rudimentary fan...
. The Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese edition was released on July 19. This two-disc edition included the same extra features as the North American release, though it also included the American, European and Japanese theatrical trailers and Japanese TV spots. A limited-edition special Japanese boxed set contained the two disc DVD set, a jewellery box, a Swarovski
Swarovski
Swarovski is the brand name for a range of precisely-cut crystal and related luxury products produced by Swarovski AG of Wattens, Austria...
high-heeled shoe brooch, a hand mirror, and a lace handkerchief.
External links
- Translated interview with Sofia Coppola
- 'Marie Antoinette': Best or Worst of Times? - The New York Times Cannes Journal
- Screencaps