Oh man, I really loved Marie Antoinette!

Cafe Society
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Yes, the major players were played by Americans, without accents even. Yes, some of the music was anachronistic (but boy did I love the masked ball dancing to Siouxsie & the Banshees’ “Hong Kong Garden”!) and probably lots of historical details were fudged. And yes, it ended before Marie’s head got chopped off, but dammit, I loved it anyway and can’t wait to see it again! Kirsten Dunst is proving herself a fine actress, the sets, costumes and cinematography are all grand and awe-inspiring, it was a fascinating story told from Marie’s limited, inexperienced teenager point of view and it made me want to learn more about Marie and that time frame in France’s history. Marie is not shown to be either a saint or a martyr, just a girl born into and thrown into a situation that few people could imagine.

Sofia Coppola is now one of my favorite directors because for me, she’s made 3 great movies in 3 tries and shows nothing but promise for the future. She really has a gift.

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I loved it too, the more I think about it.

I was just thrilled that the film didn’t have a Lesson, or if it did it was far more subtle than in most American films. As far as I could tell the films theme was “It’s a nice life if you can get it”, which is a helluva lot better than the more typical “look at this rich bitch”, which it would’ve been at the hands of most other directors.

It’s not hard to see why Coppola is attracted to the material, nor why she framed the film in the manner that she did: she can probably see herself as the Hollywood princess who was beheaded by the peasants (her reviews for Godfather 3). There’s a fair amount of boredom and detachment from the realities when you’re a queen, but still: it’s a nice life if you can get it.

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But tell me about the really important part - the shoes that Manolo Blahnik designed for the film. Stop already with the music & the auteur theories. Get to the shoes, man! :smiley:

VCNJ~

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So–I may take the trouble to see this one on the big screen. And you began convincing me with the first sentence.

Of COURSE the major players don’t have accents! To be historically accurate, they should all speak French. Unless we see a bit of the Austrian court–where they’d speak Austrian German (?). Of course, the accents would be adjusted per class & region. Perhaps Marie would speak French with a German accent?

For simplicity’s sake, the whole thing has been translated into English. So–the actors should speak “natural” English. Unlike those WWII films in which the Germans speak to each other in English–but use “German” accents so we know they’re really speaking German!

(Besides, I hear the costumes are amazing. I’ll forgive much if a film has dynamite art direction & interesting music.)

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JohnT, I’m glad you loved it too.

Ha!

Well let’s see, being the type of person who thinks it’s just wrong to pay over $10 for a pair of shoes (unless they’re winter boots, then maybe up to $20) and also being the type of person who has never seen an episode of Sex in the City, shoes are not really my thing. However, I do remember a specific scene where they opened box after box of prissy, silly shoes that looked VERY uncomfortable, so I assume those were the Manolos. They were…over the top, which I know was the point. Whether they were true to the period, I couldn’t say. Everything about the look of the movie seemed as if it should be true, but that’s for an expert in the dress, shoe, makeup and hairstyle department to say.

Really, they were wonderful. I wouldn’t touch them with a 20 ft pole, but they delighted Marie and her girlfriends to no end. I loved the scene where they were looking at all these fancy fabrics too, and there was a short scene where a dress was being put together while on Marie.

Point taken about the accents (or lack of). I didn’t think of that, and yet I now realize it bothers me when characters speak English when they’re supposed to be speaking a foreign language, but they use accents to make sure we know what country they’re from. I think seeing Kirsten Dunst trying to act while putting on a French accent would have taken me right out of the movie, or Jason Schwartzman, or Rip Torn (who plays a quite randy King of France).

They do show a tiny bit of the Austrian court at the beginning, when the royal marriage arrangement is announced. That’s when I started falling in love with the film. It looked beautiful, Kirsten was such a cutie, so innocent, and an unrecognizable Marianne Faithful played her mother.

Oh yes, you must see this on the big screen. If it gets any Oscar nominations at all, it’ll be for costumes and art direction. The music was good, but nothing grabbed me until Siouxsie (but then, I think Siouxie is a goddess and I’m partial to female vocals anyway, and most of the vocals in the film are male).

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So this was pretty much Baz Luhrmann in Versailles, then?

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Loopydude, no, not at all. I do love Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge is one of my all-time favorite films) but no, there are very few similarities. The modern-day music was really a very small part of the film and you forget about it very quickly. The music and the American accents are the only things anachronistic. Everything else is full-on period piece. Again, I don’t know how accurate it all was and I’d be interested in hearing from people who really do know that period, but it looked right to me.

I should have clarified that paying little money for shoes is how I feel for ME. I don’t judge women who spend a lot on shoes. If I were a girly girl, skinny, stylish and had money, I’d probably have a shoe closet too. They would all be comfortable though. I would never wear shoes that would fit better if I cut toes off.

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From the bits I’ve seen online at IMDB, it seems it’s more like A Knight’s Tale for girls than Moulin Rouge. The anachronistic bits are intended to help the audience *feel * what it was like for the characters in their day (i.e. they listened to modern music, worried about current fashions, etc)

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Ah, I haven’t seen A Knight’s Tale so I couldn’t comment on the observation. I own the DVD but we’ve just never gotten around to watching it. I think you’re right about your last sentence, though I can’t imagine any teenage girl identifying with the fashions of the day. Marie’s wedding dress evoked more laughter than oohs and ahhs. What a silly-looking dress. I want to know how accurate it is. Luckily for Kirsten, much of the time Marie is dressed in loose, flowy, comfortable-looking clothes, just not when she’s in public. And thankfully, the ridiculous sky-high hairdo wig is only seen a handful of times.

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Didn’t love it didn’t hate it.
Coppola’s portrayal of Marie Antoinette was much like Zaphod Beeblebrox’s therapist’s description of Zaphod: “Zaphod is just this guy, you know?”

Whereas I respect the goal, I think she was dealing with a much more interesting figure and held back making her as interesting as possible to avoid “choosing sides” (martyr? bitch?). No, Marie was just this girl, you know?

I did enjoy the first dressing scene at Versailles. I loved Rip Torn! Such an interesting casting choice! I thought Jason Schwartzman was underused, things always got more interesting when he was onscreen. And I loved Shirley Henderson- who I’ve never seen in anything before, she was so cool! Is her voice always so Muppet-like?

Directed by Sofia Coppola, produced by FFC, starring Jason Schwartzman, second unit director Roman Coppola, what they didn’t have any room for Nic Cage or Talia Shire???

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In my opinion, you’d be better off using it as a coaster.

I have been eagerly anticipating this film. I can’t wait to see it.

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P.S. Does anyone know any examples of films that cast a young actress then apply effective aging make-up as the character ages throughout the movie?

There are some examples where the aging make-up for a young male actor is quite effectively done, but they seem to never even bother when the lead is a pretty actress. Like they don’t want to “un-pretty” her at all.

We only needed to beleive that she was 38 at the end of the movie, it’s not like they would have had to make her a hag. 38 in 1793 would not have been as attractive as 38 in 2006, but still they could have aged her and still kept her pretty- if that was a concern.

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Even moreso usually. I know her best as Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets/Goblet of Fire, Yum-Yum in Topsy-Turvy and Susannah in A Cock and Bull Story. She’s been in movies I’ve seen but I can’t quite place her in them because it’s been a long time since I’ve seen them, such as Rob Roy, Trainspotting, The Claim, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and AfterLife (not the Japanese film about recording your favorite memory to take with you after you die). She’s also been in movies I’ve heard of but haven’t seen, such as Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Wonderland, 24 Hour Party People, Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself and Yes, plus quite a few other small indies that I haven’t heard of.

Ha, Nic Cage could have played Marie’s brother, and Talia Shire could have played her mother.

bienville, was it Marie herself who was interesting or the times in which she lived? I’m fairly ignorant about her and her historical surroundings. Can anyone recommend a good book about her? I know the movie is based on a book, which I want to read, but I didn’t know if there’s anything in particular that’s a must-read.

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Actually at the beginning when they say she is fourteen I was wondering if she really made a convincing 14 year old, and if they would put much effort into aging her. The only difference I noticed in aging was that there was a certain point in the movie where she gives up her more frilly outfits and starts wearing more plain comfortable ones.

Perhaps they sould have cast Katie Holmes, as she must be around 30 now and she still looks prepubescent to me.

I generally find more extreme aging (wrinkles) to be very fake looking, but the end of A League Of Their Own had me amazed. I’m convinced that they hired the actresses mothers to play their older selves and dubbed in the actual actresses’ voices. I find the aging of the father on Psyche (or de-aging) to be pretty convincing. I’m sure I’ve seen many films over a long period of the protaganists life but I’m having trouble thinking of them right now. Perhaps we should spin this off into another thread.

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If you like Henderson, definitely check out **Intermission** (also with Colm Meany, Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy, and Kelly MacDonald). She’s a particular standout there.

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Allowing some latitude for the meanings of “young”, “actress” and “effective”, I give you Elizabeth Taylor in Giant.