‘Marie Antoinette’ is a history lesson, punk-style

Sofia Coppola is one of America’s best female directors. Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides are two cinematic goldmines, offering depressed, yet touching, looks at American lives in crisis. She has a way with actors, letting their subtlety win the audience over. In many ways, her directorial efforts demystify the mystique of cinema. She strips a movie down to its bare bones and tries to convey true conversations and relationships. What is Lost in Translation but one elongated talk between Billy Murray and Scarlett Johansson’s characters?

In Marie Antoinette, Coppola trips up. Rather than relying on her strengths, she takes a risk and tries to convey a history lesson in a modernized, stylistic manner. Think A Knight’s Tale meets Amadeus and you’ll figure out Marie Antoinette. Although there are scenes and characters that work well, most of the movie comes off as idea filmmaking that falls flat.

Kirsten Dunst plays the young Austrian who was given over to France as a peace offering in the 18th century. She marries Louis XVI and eventually becomes the queen. The way in which Antoinette is handed over by her family calls to mind modern-day prostitution. At such a young age, she is essentially sold to the French for purely sexual reasons (her task is to give Louis a male heir). Coppola emphasizes the young queen’s childlike ways in these early scenes, showing Antoinette clinging on to puppies and smiling coyly at the pomp and circumstance of the regal life.

Dunst plays the part well, never overselling what is an iconic historical figure. However, even though her performance is subtle, Coppola misguidedly amps up the volume and cinematic flourishes all around her. There are montages with punk-rock songs, nightly binges, sexual liaisons, gossipy conversations and shoe parties. In Coppola’s vision, France’s new queen is a spoiled rich girl, a 20th-century Kim Kardashian, if you will. Although that premise is novel, it never feels right. Antoinette and King Louis XVI (played nicely by Jason Schwartzman) were not all about the parties and the drinking. They presided over arguably the most important era in French history. Yet, the film has chosen to gloss over the importance of these two figures, instead treating the issues of the French people as a mere afterthought.

The punk-style filmmaking could have worked, but it needed to shed further light on these doomed characters. Instead, it feels like a director’s creativity got the best of her. The cinematic portrait of this king and queen is so lacking in detail that it’s worse than reading Cliff’s Notes. These two live in a created world, bypassing history as if they were not answerable to the rabble in the streets. At the end of the film, when the French begin to protest and storm the palace at Versailles, the audience is left feeling empty. Who are these people yelling in the streets? Why are they so angry? What did Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI do to make everyone so upset?

Unfortunately, Coppola’s film doesn’t answer these questions. There is no sense of the class warfare that is ravaging the French countryside. There is no talk of the rising cost of bread, or the paltry conditions of the poor. There is no discussion of the guillotine or even the inner workings of the French government. This movie is on holiday, choosing to focus on the partying of Dunst’s character, rather than how she fit into the history books.

It’s never a bore to watch Marie Antoinette. There are enough stylized sequences to keep the audience’s interest. Plus, the visuals are stunning. The palace at Versailles and the intricate costumes, makeup and wigs are top-notch. But by the end, the film feels like a missed opportunity, and unfortunately you’ll walk away knowing no more than when you first walked in.

John Soltes / Publisher

• Marie Antoinette

• 2006

• Written and directed by Sofia Coppola

• Starring Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman and Rip Torn

• Running time: 123 minutes

• Rated PG-13 for sexual content, partial nudity and innuendo

• Bubble score: 2.5 out of 4

• Click here to purchase Marie Antoinette on DVD.