Sofia Coppola’s 2006 historical drama Marie Antoinette is a tragically beautiful retelling of Antoinette’s (Kirsten Dunst) life, drawing inspiration from the book Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France.
The story of Marie Antoinette is one of the most infamous historical tales. Coppola enhances her sorrowful story with an exquisite soundtrack, sets, and costume design.
The film begins with Antoinette moving to France at the age of 14 and deals with the key moments in her life from there, including marrying the Dauphin of France (Jason Schwartzman), who then becomes King Louis XVI. It tracks her marriage up to the French Revolution, with the Royal Family entering exile.
It’s fair to call Dunst Coppola’s muse, with the pair working together so many times. Her performance of Antoinette is a testament to their creative partnership.
Antoinette is a very difficult character to portray. She’s a very complex and troubled woman, but Dunst does an incredible job at communicating the fallen royal’s youthful and playful side whilst also depicting her tender and sobering moments.
The costumes and set design ooze opulence, effectively creating the absurd bubble of wealth the family was surrounded by in Versailles.
It’s obvious why the costumes were so widely praised. Milena Canonero, the film’s renowned costume designer, created 60 costumes for Dunst that were ram-packed with bows, frills, and feathers. She received an Oscar nomination for helping to turn Antoinette into Dunst.
The passage of time is artistically communicated; for example, the death of the couple’s third child is quietly communicated through the changing of a family portrait. Moments of stillness like this beautifully break up the extravagant halls of Versailles and outrageous wigs donned by the aristocracy.
As one would expect, it would not be a tale of Antoinette without the inclusion of her most notorious quote: “Let them eat cake.”
The line is delivered cleverly, followed by “That’s such nonsense; I would never say that,” which nicely addresses historical inaccuracies and the lack of evidence proving that Antoinette actually said this.
One element that took me out of the immersive design qualities was the accents. Dunst and Schwartzman keep their American twang, yet when their daughter speaks, she has a French accent. Of course, being an account of the most famous French family, this would make sense, but the inconsistencies and disregard for consistency caught me off guard.
Regardless of any minor flaws, Marie Antoinette excellently tells such a tragic tale whilst maintaining Coppola’s charming style.
