| | |  | FRANCE | Home » » Marie Antoinette | | | | | | | Description: | | "Sofia Coppola directs an electrifying yet intimate re-telling of the turbulent life of history's favorite villainess, Marie Antoinette. Kirsten Dunst portrays the ill-fated child princess who married France's young and indifferent King Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman). Feeling isolated in a royal court rife with scandal and intrigue, Marie Antoinette defied both royalty and commoner by living like a rock star, which served only to seal her fate. " | | | Features: | |
• Special Features
• Deleted Scenes
• Making-of Featurette "Cribs with Louis XVI"
• Mastered in High Definition
• Languages English, French. Subtitles English, French
| | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Rip Torn, Judy Davis, Rose Byrne | | Director:
| Sofia Coppola | | Format:
| Digital Sound, Closed-captioned, Subtitled, Anamorphic, Dubbed, NTSC | | Language:
| English, French | | Subtitle:
| English, French | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Sony Pictures Home Entertainment | | Run Time:
| 123 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| February 13, 2007 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 393 reviews |
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| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 393 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
64 of 73 found the following review helpful:
 One of 2006's Most Underrated?Dec 31, 2006
By mac301
"Mason"
While listening to The Cure's "Plainsong" a few hours ago, a track included in Sofia Coppola's latest feature film, which chronicles the iconic Queen of France, the motion picture really came together for me. "Marie Antoinette" is, undeniably, one of the most polarizing and bold films I have seen to come out of Hollywood in some time and perhaps Coppola's greatest achievement thus far; yes, better than Lost In Translation, folks.
Critics have unfairly attacked it as a celebration of decadent flair over substance, and while I had also shared these censures, I really feel people are misunderstanding the motion picture. Those looking for an accurate explanation of French history will be sorely letdown. I'll come out right now and say it, "There is no beheading!"
"Marie Antoinette" is a much more private and introspective experience. Coppola's focal point here is nothing more and nothing less than the manipulation of adolescence. Though Marie may have been excessive from time to time, there is more to her story than what has always been perceived. She was merely a teenager when she was uprooted and forced into foreign lands that held her, as well as Louis XVI to unattainable standards; their tragic exploitations serve as only more proof of how outdated and senseless the monarchy was. Sofia Coppola's prevailing test, undoubtedly, is to reverberate empathy for this young woman, and despite almost impairing it with a hefty illustration of the character's gluttony, Coppola, in due course, is winning.
Going back to my allusion of The Cure's "Plainsong", the film really works as something of an ill-fated fairy-tale. We know the doomed fate of our heroin, and thanks to Coppola it is a captivating journey, reminiscent of the song, with delicate instances of passion and affection, graciously supplied by Kirsten Dunst and a notable supporting cast, that makes us dread the inevitable conclusion. Wisely, Coppola restrains from placing in a spiteful guillotine scene, which would be absolutely unnecessary after the tender and personal feature it is throughout.
Now onto the feature's vastly-criticized directorial choices, I really think Sofia Coppola has produced the most contemporary period piece since Milos Forman's "Amadeus". From the daring incorporation of 80's New Wave as well as classical music to the energetic cinematography and editing, "Marie Antoinette" is a masterpiece in audaciousness.
The soundtrack is, easily, one of the best I have heard in a while. It actually aids in encapsulating the youthful spirit Coppola wants Marie to have. Those who pay close attention will appreciate the progression in the music and how it depicts the main character's emotions; it begins quite buoyantly and slowly becomes mellower. New Order, The Cure, Bow Wow Wow, The Radio Department, and The Strokes can all be heard during the film.
Even the costumes have a bubbly gaze to them. I know who is going to snag the "Best Set Direction" and "Best Costume Design" Oscars this year. Coppola really takes advantage of the unprecedented access the feature was given to the Palace of Versailles. She utilizes the awe-inspiring splendor of the location through opulent set pieces, colors, and atmospheric outdoor surroundings.
In honor of Marie Antoinette's eerily ironic last words: "Monsieur, I ask your pardon. I did not do it on purpose," Sofia Coppola's newest motion picture is for those yearning a lavish dream about a lost youth, who became something of a scapegoat for the tumultuous events that occurred around her.
201 of 243 found the following review helpful:
Let Them Eat GanacheOct 23, 2006
By MICHAEL ACUNA
Booed at its Cannes premiere this year (as Anthony Lane in the "New Yorker" states: "Who was in the audience, Robespierre?"), "Marie Antoinette" is that rare bird: a film that is beautiful on the outside (everything about the physical movie is eye-poppingly gorgeous: Costumes, Food, Pastries, Shoes {yes shoes...in fact I can't remember a film in recent memory of which almost every reviewer credits the shoes to the designer: in this case, Manolo Blahnik}) as it is on the inside: studiously, exhaustively researched, thoughtfully written and impeccably directed by Sofia Coppola who gives us a revisionist portrait of M. Antoinette that is humane, heartfelt and above all measured and compassionate. There is no doubt who is in charge of this huge production and Coppola's obvious tender touch is evident everywhere throughout this film.
This "Marie Antoinette" is told from a Marie as a girl perspective: she is very young, she is giddy, very much impatient of the French Court and it's customs, very much into clothes and shoes yet she matures, has children, takes a lover grows wise, becomes the subject of gossip, learns to love Louis and becomes a loving and doting mother. This is a fully fleshed out role of a victim, really: a victim of politics, of circumstances beyond her control.
At the center of this film is the tragic, sad and revelatory Marie of Kirsten Dunst. Dunst's Marie is the outsider, reviled by the French court (called "L'Autrichienne" by most...the Austrian *itch), lost and 14 when she first arrives in France, literally stripped of everything Austrian, Dunst navigates this difficult role with ease. But this is not a surface performance...not at all. Dunst digs deep and reveals all the nuances, all the insecurities, all the strengths of one of the most hated women in all of history. Dunst plays Marie from her gut and she leaves her blood as well as her tears on the celluloid. Do not be swayed or fooled by the naysayers: this is a towering performance of the first order.
Coppola is getting a lot of bad press or her use of 80's music on the soundtrack (Bow Wow Wow, Gang of 4, The Cure) but she has so far in her two previous films ("The Virgin Suicides" and "Lost in Translation") proven to be nothing if not a populist, a product of her environment, a lover of popular culture. In "M.A." the music serves the story effectively by blasting away and preventing any cobwebs from growing on what could have been a stodgy Historical drama.
Though Coppola will not be beheaded for making this wonderful film, it is apparent that most people just don't get "it." With all that said the fact remains: "Marie Antoinette" contains one of the most beautiful images ever committed to film: Marie in a carriage, having been forced out of Versailles, deep sadness in her face, clutching her children and holding Louis's hand, the camera pointed out at the grounds of Versailles, she poignantly says "Goodbye" to the only place she can claim as home...as the carriage takes her family to Oblivion.
21 of 23 found the following review helpful:
Unique and funOct 06, 2007
By Melissa Niksic
I enjoyed "Marie Antoinette" a lot more than I thought I would. The film begins with Marie (Kirsten Dunst), the Austrian Archduchess, setting off to France to marry Louis-Auguste (Jason Schwartzman). Unfortunately, Marie's new husband has little interest in her or in the act of consummating their marriage, so the future queen finds herself in limbo for quite some time, as it is uncertain whether she will produce an heir to the throne and thus survive at court. Eventually Louis-Auguste comes around, and Marie gives birth to a daughter, and later a son. In the meantime, Marie becomes known as the Queen of Excesses, spending copious amounts of money on clothing and jewels instead of bothering to become acquainted with the issues of relevance to the French people. Marie enjoys parties, sweets, and even an illicit affair, but the fun comes crashing down when the monarchy falls out of favor with the citizens of France, who angrily storm the castle in an attempt on Marie's life. Eventually the royal family is forced to flee their home and go into hiding.
Obviously, the best thing about this movie is the way it looks on screen. Watching "Marie Antoinette" is like stepping into a high-end bakery and admiring a bunch of scrumptious, frilly wedding cakes. Everything about the film is absolutely beautiful: the costumes, the shoes, the palaces, the desserts. However, the dialogue in the first half of the movie is very choppy and sparse, so the only thing for the audience to do is admire all the visual beauty. After a while the script does manage to turn itself around, and I think the second half of the movie is much better in terms of storyline and character development. "Marie Antoinette" has a fabulous soundtrack that consists of mostly punk music, which is a lot of fun. Also, the cast is excellent. I was impressed with all the performances, especially Dunst's. She portrays Marie as a naive, frivolous, but not entirely unsympathetic person. I thought she did a really good job.
I was surprised that the film ended so abruptly and did not take us to the end of Marie's life. I think the story could have wrapped up a lot better than it did. All in all, though, "Marie Antoinette" isn't great, but it's very good.
30 of 35 found the following review helpful:
Must all these people watch?Mar 27, 2008
By Gunner
Marie Antoinette DVD
This movie is about the life of the teenage Austrian girl who married King Louis XVI of France. I had read about her saying "Let them eat cake" for years, when she asked why the peasants were rioting during the French Revolution and was told that they had no bread to eat. What I didn't really realized until watching this movie was how sheltered and out of touch she was. She was only 14 when she was packed off to marry Louis, who she had never seen before, was stripped and inspected for blemishes when she reached the hand off point( how embarrassing) and had something like forty people sitting around her bed watching on her wedding night. "Nothing happened, apparently." Well duh?
Kirsten Dunst gives an excellent performance as the teenage queen, in this movie which starts off set in Austria in 1768. She spoke German, by the way, not French.
Highly recommended for students of History who want a better insight of this period of European history. Other items about Marie Antoinette include:
Marie Antoinette: The Journey
The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette: A Novel
Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France
Another book related to Marie Antoinette is Norby and the Queen's Necklace (Norby Series)
Gunner March, 2008
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 understated historical dramaNov 08, 2006
By Roland E. Zwick
Perhaps unfairly, the name Marie Antoinette has become virtually synonymous with the upper class' indifference to the sufferings of the poor. Even all these centuries later, many people still believe that the much-maligned French queen actually uttered the words, "Let them eat cake," when confronted with the news that her subjects were starving (the phrase actually comes from a play popular at the time). Writer/director Sofia Coppola's new film, "Marie Antoinette," based on the book "Marie Antoinette: The Journey" by Antonia Fraser, seems determined to clear her name and change that perception.
In this film, Marie Antoinette is seen as a sheltered, somewhat frivolous young girl unprepared for the role history was about to thrust upon her. The movie begins at the moment when the Archduchess of Austria, aged 14, has been promised in wedlock to France's Prince Louis XVI as part of a treaty between the two countries. She is quickly whisked away to her new nation and new role, becoming a virtual prisoner to the proscribed rites and regulations of court life at Versailles in the late 18th Century.
In a wise move artistically (if not commercially), Coppola has seen fit to bleed the film of most of its potential hyperbole and melodrama, choosing instead to concentrate on the gossipy pettiness and mind-numbing rituals of royal life at that time. We see Marie completely stripped of any sense of personal privacy, as she endures the indignities of a virtual cast of thousands having a hand in her dressing herself in the morning and being constantly under the watchful eye of moral advisers on the lookout for any breach of etiquette or protocol deemed unbecoming of a queen. Coppola immerses us in all the finery and opulence of the glittery setting, while the drama ever so subtly plays itself out. Even though Marie clearly resents the restricted life she is forced to endure, she rarely whines or wallows in self-pity, choosing instead to accept her role with an uncomplaining, almost fatalistic, good grace. Even when her husband refuses for years to consummate their marriage, she remains generally sympathetic to him and understanding of his "problem."
There are those who will find this movie slow-moving, stultifying, and boring because it doesn't go over-the-top by focusing on major moments of crisis or by overplaying the queen's famed cruelty or self-indulgence. She is, instead, seen as a woman neither actively engaged in the outside world nor entirely dismissive of it. Some have objected to the fact that the filmmakers have stacked the deck in her favor by showing us so little of what life was like for the suffering populace of the nation. But it is just that insularity that helps us to see how a woman with such an apparently good heart could have been so badly misunderstood by those in her own time and by generations that followed. At the end, when she and her family are being carted off to certain doom by a mob thirsting for rectification and vengeance, she seems genuinely bewildered, yet also strangely heroic in her stoicism and grace. Much of this is due to the tour de force performance by Kirsten Dunst, who never overstates the obvious but allows us to see the complex woman trapped beneath all the jewel-encrusted trappings of pampered French royalty. Marie may not display an interest in world affairs or the arcane machinations involved in running a nation, but she is shrewd enough to know how to maneuver her way through the often absurdly arbitrary power politics of court life.
The movie has garnered perhaps its greatest notoriety for employing an anachronistic rock music soundtrack (a la "A Knight's Tale"). For me, this worked fairly well (though I don't think it is indispensable to the film by any stretch), mainly because it brings a more contemporary sensibility to a film that might otherwise feel weighted down by period piece stuffiness. History-obsessed purists may object to the choice, but even they may find compensation in the relatively understated and historically accurate approach the screenplay has taken towards her life as a whole.
"Marie Antoinette" is, more than anything else, a study of repression, of what happens when human beings are locked into figurative gilded cages and then are expected to go about their daily lives as if anything really mattered. Seen in that light, this is a very sad, very poignant - though often quite funny - movie indeed.
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