UK Release: 20th October 2006
Watched on DVD: Wednesday 14th September 2011
Rating: 12A
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Runtime: 2hrs 3mins
Tagline: Let Them Eat Cake
IMDb Plot Summary: The retelling of France's iconic but ill-fated queen, Marie Antoinette. From her betrothal and marriage to Louis XVI at 15 to her reign as queen at 19 and to the end of her reign as queen and ultimately the fall of Versailles.
My Review: This is an odd film to review. In fact, I didn’t feel right reviewing it today as I fast forwarded through quite a bit of it as it is just so long. I have seen it many times before though (before I started the blog 9 months ago), so I felt I might as well give my view on it...
There is an awful lot of "riffraff chitter-chatter nonsense" that could be easily cut out - in fact the action only really kicks in at about the hour mark. My main problem with it is the flow, though. It zig zags to serious to teen drama to cheesy to kitchen sink drama and back again.
There is an awful lot of "riffraff chitter-chatter nonsense" that could be easily cut out - in fact the action only really kicks in at about the hour mark. My main problem with it is the flow, though. It zig zags to serious to teen drama to cheesy to kitchen sink drama and back again.
Also the modern rock music that soundtracks the movie doesn’t quite sit right, in my opinion. Where Moulin Rouge makes it easy, natural and well... brilliant, Marie Antoinette manages to make it... just awkward: a little try hard.
And of course, the accents are all over the place; french, english, american - who knows what the next character will come out with.
One of the best things about the film, however, is that it looks beautiful. Not stunning, but nice enough that you don’t scream in despair at the appalling script and dreadful accents. But then a regency film is hard not to pull off in the cinematic sense, as the costumes and stately homes always look great on screen.
Unless you do something very, very wrong.
And it also can be funny at times, but often from the minor supporting cast, so the laughs are rarities.
Unless you do something very, very wrong.
And it also can be funny at times, but often from the minor supporting cast, so the laughs are rarities.
Oh and the ending. It is far too sombre and completely at odds with the rest of the film. But so is most of it. I don’t think it knows what it’s trying to be and, therein, lies the fundamental problem.
Score: 6/10
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