Tuesday 21 May 2013

Marie Antoinette 2006

My Costume Drama of the Month in February was Marie Antoinette (2006) so I'm going to write a review to put towards Old-Fashioned Charm's Period Drama Challenge. So, here goes!
Marie Antoinette, in costuming terms, is one of my favourite films, and the first thing to make me interested in 18th century fashion. It is probably a well known fact by now that Milena Canonero used a colour palette for the costumes based on French macaroons, and I think that this worked well.

Many reviews have said the storyline was lacking. It was based on a biography of Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser, and they couldn't fit all of Marie Antoinette's life in France into one film! I did find that the storyline wasn't what was keeping me watching, although I did find it enjoyable.
The aspect of this film that really kept me interested, and makes me able to watch it time and time again, is that it is a treat for the eyes. Costumes aside, beautiful cinematography combined with the rich setting of the Palace of Versailles really made this film come to life for me.
My favourite scene in the film was the 'I Want Candy' scene. The shots of shoes were interesting to look at, and the scene was colourful and vibrant. The food did make me feel hungry though!
On the subject of the 'I Want Candy' scene, the music choice in the film certainly was interesting. I found the soundtrack (separately from the film) to be great to listen to, ranging pretty and sad piano pieces to 80s punk rock. With the film, I find the soundtrack worked well, but not spectacularly well; the points to be taken seriously had suitable music, and the opening scene worked (along with the above mentioned 'I Want Candy' scene) in terms of music choices. The rest of the music editing didn't excite me, but I did enjoy it.
Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette felt like an interesting choice, but a good one. She did justice to the role, and she looked right at different points. At the beginning, I really felt like I was looking at someone my age (although the straightened hair might have helped that illusion....), and by the end makeup and her acting skills made her look like a worn out woman, through mourning and watching her friends leave. Jason Schwartzman did an excellent performance as Louis XVI. The rest of the cast did lovely performances, my favourite being Mary Nighy as the Princesse de Lamballe.
This film is rated PG-13 (12A in the UK). I would recommend it to people who like pretty scenes of Versailles and fabulous costumes.

This has been my 4th review for the Period Drama Challenge! I hope you have enjoyed it! In a few days I will review "Mr Selfridge", see you then!
Old-Fashioned Charm

2 comments:

  1. I've been interested in this movie for a while, but it has yet to cross my path. I'll have to try harder to find it.

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    1. I was interested in seeing for a while before I actually did, and got fed up of looking and bought it on iTunes! I'd rather not have, but it ended up being worth it to see the costumes.

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