Archived: Oct 23, 2006

> Arts & Entertainment

‘Marie Antoinette’ a bit too modern

Film looses its head in updated piece

By Drew Steck

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Coppola’s vision to make Marie seem like a modern woman stuck in a different time, a kind of “Pride and Prejudice” feel, rubs the viewer just a little the wrong way.

In the creation of a film, there is supposed a strong cohesive vision to which all of the collaborators conform and apply their ideas.

Whether it is a cheesy action film or a dark comedy, the cast, crew and director share a sense of where the movie is going and how it will speak to the audience.

In Sophia Coppola’s (director of “Lost in Translation,” daughter of “The Godfather” director Francis Ford Coppola) latest cinematic work, “Marie Antoinette,” she tries a different angle at the typical period autobiographical film. In an attempt to make the story feel more modern, she uses contemporary music and dialogue that sounds all too present day.

While using these modern changes, Coppola also uses period sets and costume pieces to vie for historical accuracy. The result is a disjointed movie that commits neither to a modern or classic structure and at under a category one could coin as “Rock and Roll History.”

Coppola’s vision to make Marie seem like a modern woman stuck in a different time, a kind of “Pride and Prejudice” feel, rubs the viewer just a little the wrong way, seeing as we have history books that tell us otherwise. All of this is only considering the film from a male perspective, which was never the intended audience for this picture.

The expected draw for the film is 14- to 30-year-old white, middle-class females. This is the same collective of females that helped “Titanic” break box office records nine years ago. These films helped show the movie-going public that they cared more about a captivating story to ensnare box office success than they do historical accuracy.

The reason that this coveted type of audience will find the movie so appealing is the excess of “girly” fixtures. A “Shoe Montage” and the 60-plus dresses that adorn Antoinette through the film give it a strong estrogen-filled undertone.

The acting in the film was typical to the people in the roles. Jason Schwartzman (“Rushmore” and “Slackers”) takes on the form of King Louis IV, the husband of the title role and does a good job of portraying a young man thrown into an already bad situation as the head of state.

Kirsten Dunst (“Bring It On” and “Spiderman”) gives a type of an awkward teenage feel to the young Marie Antoinette in the beginning, but makes it difficult for the audience to believe her as a mother in the latter part of the film.

If you like shoes, sweets and powdered wigs, this movie is definitely for you.

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