We caught Sofia Coppola's 'Marie Antoinette' last night.......eh.
The husbandito said he thought the film was "flat." I felt that the flatness is just Coppola's M.O. and that it works great when she's staging a listless, America suburb ('Virgin Suicides') or the weirdly frenetic detachment of Tokyo ('Lost in Translation'). However, that same cool iron pressed against the visual splendor of Versailles in the 1700s just sorta backfires. This was one of those rare instances in which high contrast is not trés cool.
The film has its moments--the visuals are amazing; definitely a big picture film. I felt like I got to really appreciate the wedding cake aesthetic without getting nauseous. All that ceremonial pomp n' pageantry around even the most mundane things, like getting out of bed (which I now realize I'm doing all wrong), was bananas.
Coppola's presentation of the Court of Louis XVI's as a 'scene' populated by the same personality types you find at the Chateau Marmont in L.A. or the Hamptons, and (mis)behaving accordingly, seems weirdly 'right.'
Oh, and there's very little 'History Channel' in this movie. You're not going to come away having learned anything about the French revolution, which is O.K.
Anyway, Dunst is fine and there are a couple of great performances: Judy Davis rocks as the Comtesse de Noailles; Jason Schwartzman is chubby and sweet as the Dauphin. While Coppola's music choices did seem to add a certain je ne c'est quoi (that's French) and the orchestral version of SATB's 'Hong Kong Garden' was a treat, I don't see why everybody's losing there headz about the soundtrack. It just seemed smart to me--not revolutionary. Overall, the film seemed meandering and listless (and not in the fun way), but go and see it anyway if for no other reason than the French booed it, and I hate the fuck'n French.
