MP
aka Monday Post (no, not a Member of Parliament, Brits) is back! Basically,
Monday Post was created to slow down your first busy day of week, when you can
plunge into film memories that are brought to you by a succession of memorable
quotes from a (usually) good movie. Beware of spoilers.
Today
Kirsten Dunst celebrates her birthday, and as a token of our fan loyalty let's
recall Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette
(2006), starring the lovely Kirsten, as well as Rose Byrne, Judy Davis, Jason
Schwartzman and others. I believe this film is quite underrated, although the
writer-director seems to obsess over idle themes in her movies, so maybe that's
the reason. Anyways, the quotes… but a few pictures first (I couldn't choose
just one, this film is beautiful!)
Marie-Antoinette:
Mops!
Comtesse
de Noailles: You may have as many French
dogs as you like.
Marie-Antoinette:
Am I to be Austrian or the Dauphine of
France?
Ambassador
Mercy: You must be both.
Marie-Antoinette:
Letting everyone down would be my
greatest unhappiness.
Emperor
Joseph: Unfortunately, I cannot kidnap
the Queen of France... Is your hair quite tall enough today? Maybe you can keep
a pet in there or something.
Marie-Antoinette:
Oh, you were not what was desired, but
that makes you no less dear to me. A boy would have been the Son of France, but
you, Marie Thérèse, shall be mine.
Marie-Antoinette:
Welcome to my little village!
Louis
XVI: Are you admiring your lime avenue?
Marie-Antoinette:
I'm just saying good-bye.
What do you think of this film? What do you like most
about it: posh art direction and costumes, unconventional for period films soundtrack,
writing, performances etc.? Is Marie
Antoinette underrated in your opinion?
It's incredibly underrated. This is one of my most favourite films. It is easily the prettiest one that I have seen. I think people judge it too much for its shallow aspects, but they don't seem to understand that it's about a domesticated teenage girl who's just trying to do her duty, which is to give birth to an heir and when she is unable to do that, she spends her time doing girly things.
ReplyDeleteAlso it has one of my most favourite soundtracks and a truly remarkable ending.
Gosh, you put it so well and so did the others. All comments speak for the movie. I remember when I was buying the DVD -- and at the time I was not that much of a film buff -- the shop assistant recommended me Marie Antoinette, describing it as a pretty film about beautiful idle life and that's it. But like you said, it's more than that.
DeleteCertainly underrated!
ReplyDeleteThe thing I love most, as always with Coppola's films, is the style: music, costumes etc. etc. The Ladurée Macaroons.
But I also think the film managed to catch the Rokoko Zeitgeist and what might have been Marie Antoinette's character (of course, we can't be sure about her at all).
And it was entertaining at the same time.
Spot on Coppola's style! People may hate or like her work, but they can't deny that she's got it. Personally, I'm not her absolute fan: I enjoyed Marie Antoinette and Lost in Translation and I was unimpressed by Somewhere, BUT she does make something special with her films. I haven't seen Virgin Suicides, but it's on my list, and I saw that you quite loved it. I definitely want to check that out.
DeleteLovely post! I really like this film - Dunst really fits the part, the contrast of the story and the songs is very interesting and the film really is one of the most gorgeous looking productions I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteI love good period films about French royalty and Marie Antoinette stands out thanks to Coppola's vision. And Dunst is brilliantly cast.
DeleteI saw this film after already having seen all of Sofia Coppola's (who me and my friends happily call So-Co) films and was amazed at how well it came off. It's so different from the rest of her films (narratively) and at the same time plays up to her strengths as a filmmaker.
ReplyDelete"Let them eat cake!"
The majority would probably say that their favorite film by S. Coppola is Lost in Translation, but I've been totally mesmerized by this film. I'm curious about her next project The Ring Bling; once again, the themes of adolescence and celebrity seem to interwine there. Interesting.
DeleteWhen I first saw it, I had a lot of anxiety watching the film to see where it was going to fall. It ended up being a very good film but the anxiety I had based on everything that I heard at Cannes ruined it for me.
ReplyDeleteThrough re-watches, I was able to enjoy the film and I think it's a very underrated film. The thing I think people were upset about was the fact that Sofia defied the rules of the bio-pic. She knew she wanted to add anachronisms into the film just to annoy people. It wasn't a serious bio-pic but one that emphasized on style while being true to some of the things that happened. Also, Coppola wanted to base the film partially on legend. I don't think it's her most underrated work. That goes to Somewhere which I think is the better film.
'Somewhere' is a painfully interesting question for me. I saw it in the cinema and I felt that it was in some way 'Lost in Translation', only in LA. However, my thoughts keep turning back to it and I wonder when I'll give up and finally re-watch it to see, if I can change my mind.
DeleteI've never seen Marie Antionette (I really want to though) - in fact, I've yet to see a Sofia Coppola film, but I have just bought The Virgin Suicides. Hopefully sometime this month I'll be giving them a watch!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I sooo want to see The Virgin Suicides you have no idea. People keep buzzing about it, even though her most acclaimed work is considered to be Lost in Translation. So, we both desperately need to see it.
Delete