Marie Antoinette
I just wasted two extremely sober hours watching Marie Antoinette directed by Sophia Coppola (think Lost in Translation). Based on the commercials for it, the choice of Kirstin Dunst, and Prof Viti's intense hatred of it ("it was SO pretty, but I don't know if I've seen a worse movie"), I didn't think it was going to be a stellar film, but since I'd liked LiT, I wanted to give it a shot at my heart.
I'm going to spoil it, so if you want to watch a movie that will make you want to spend the rest of your life searching for a way to reverse your life enough to have never watched the film, you may want to stop reading.
First 1 hour and 15 minutes:
-Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI are not getting it on. Everyone's talking about how she's frigid or he's gay, but clips into their nonexistent sex-life show that she comes on to him and he rejects her. Why does he reject her (the viewer asks again, and again, and then, again, because it lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes!)? Coppola doesn't give us any hints. There is no explanation on his part, which would be fine if he was shacking up with fellahs or had a lady on the side or a stable pony... something!
-Marie Antoinette becomes increasingly extravagant as her marriage becomes increasingly disappointing. Which means really pretty clothes and hair. Coppola gives the impression that the queen's spending waaay too much, but other than it meaning she can't give to charity, it's all good.
The rest:
- Louis and Marie shack up after Marie's brother gives him a speech about "locks and keys." Awesome. They have a baby girl, and Marie Antoinette has a revelation, goes to a "country retreat" and is shown reading Rousseau to her friends and cleaning off fresh eggs/drinking milk/being outdoorsy. Basically, rejecting the excessive lifestyle she led.
- Then Marie has an affair with a soldier, and other than him being pretty damn attractive, it doesn't fit into the plot.
- Louis and Marie have a baby boy, and they start having really cute, supportive exchanges.
- Bastille is Stormed, and the couple lets everyone leave, but stay behind. This is accompanied by a montage of Marie Antoinette's pic with a bunch of derogatory labels on top, "queen of famine" ect, ect. But this is coming after she's toned it waaay down. The director doesn't reconcile this- why is she suddenly blamed for something she once did? She makes it obvious that the financial crisis is due to Frances' aid of America against Britain, but doesn't explain why/if targeted Marie Antoinette over her husband or all of the royals.
Yes, the entire movie is about how Louis XVI won't sleep with his uberextravagent wife. And when he finally does, she hooks up with a soldier- which incidentally changes absolutely nothing. And then they have another kid. And then Versailles is stormed by an angry mob. Oh, and then it ends with her melodramatically saying goodbye to her palace.
That felt good. As did my little afternoon exchange with Shan, who is, as always, awesome :]
I'm going to spoil it, so if you want to watch a movie that will make you want to spend the rest of your life searching for a way to reverse your life enough to have never watched the film, you may want to stop reading.
First 1 hour and 15 minutes:
-Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI are not getting it on. Everyone's talking about how she's frigid or he's gay, but clips into their nonexistent sex-life show that she comes on to him and he rejects her. Why does he reject her (the viewer asks again, and again, and then, again, because it lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes!)? Coppola doesn't give us any hints. There is no explanation on his part, which would be fine if he was shacking up with fellahs or had a lady on the side or a stable pony... something!
-Marie Antoinette becomes increasingly extravagant as her marriage becomes increasingly disappointing. Which means really pretty clothes and hair. Coppola gives the impression that the queen's spending waaay too much, but other than it meaning she can't give to charity, it's all good.
The rest:
- Louis and Marie shack up after Marie's brother gives him a speech about "locks and keys." Awesome. They have a baby girl, and Marie Antoinette has a revelation, goes to a "country retreat" and is shown reading Rousseau to her friends and cleaning off fresh eggs/drinking milk/being outdoorsy. Basically, rejecting the excessive lifestyle she led.
- Then Marie has an affair with a soldier, and other than him being pretty damn attractive, it doesn't fit into the plot.
- Louis and Marie have a baby boy, and they start having really cute, supportive exchanges.
- Bastille is Stormed, and the couple lets everyone leave, but stay behind. This is accompanied by a montage of Marie Antoinette's pic with a bunch of derogatory labels on top, "queen of famine" ect, ect. But this is coming after she's toned it waaay down. The director doesn't reconcile this- why is she suddenly blamed for something she once did? She makes it obvious that the financial crisis is due to Frances' aid of America against Britain, but doesn't explain why/if targeted Marie Antoinette over her husband or all of the royals.
Yes, the entire movie is about how Louis XVI won't sleep with his uberextravagent wife. And when he finally does, she hooks up with a soldier- which incidentally changes absolutely nothing. And then they have another kid. And then Versailles is stormed by an angry mob. Oh, and then it ends with her melodramatically saying goodbye to her palace.
That felt good. As did my little afternoon exchange with Shan, who is, as always, awesome :]