Marie Antoinette

The 25 Best Movies of the Century: No. 10, ‘Marie Antoinette’

Sean and Amanda return to continue their yearlong project of listing the 25 best movies of the 21st century so far. Today, they discuss Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, one of the greatest blank checks this century, starring Kirsten Dunst. They explain why this was the official Sofia Coppola selection for the list, especially over Lost in Translation; highlight the specific decision not to include Antoinette’s infamous beheading; and discuss why this is a quintessential Kirsten Dunst performance.

Saturday night, Sharon and I watched Marie Antoinette. A blog post of The Big Picture's list of the 25 Best Movies of the Century is here.

Marie Antoinette is a 2006 film written, directed, and produced by Sofia Coppola. It is based on the 2001 biography Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser. The film stars Kirsten Dunst, alongside an ensemble cast including Jason Schwartzman, Judy Davis, Rip Torn, Rose Byrne, Asia Argento, Molly Shannon, Shirley Henderson, Danny Huston, Steve Coogan, and Jamie Dornan in his film debut.

The movie offers a stylized, pastel-toned portrait of the young Austrian archduchess (Kirsten Dunst) who is sent to France at age fourteen to marry the future King Louis XVI. Feeling isolated within the rigid, gossipy constraints of the Versailles court, she copes with the pressure to produce an heir by indulging in extravagant fashion, endless parties, and quiet escapes. Set to a modern post-punk and synth-pop soundtrack, the movie focuses on her inner life and innocence rather than grand political history. It ends as an angry mob forces the royal family to abandon Versailles at the onset of the French Revolution.

Although the costumes and sets are amazing, I am frankly a little surprised that this movie made the Big Picture's list of the 25 Best Movies of the Century. It didn't make the New York Times list of the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century. I found the movie very slow in parts. I don't recommend it. I need to listen to their podcast about the movie to figure out why they liked it so much!

As an aside, the film did win the 2007 Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

The movie does reinforce my desire to go to the Palace of Versailles. The production was given unprecedented access to the Palace. Jack, Sharon and I visited Paris in 2006, but didn't visit Versailles. Sharon and Janie went to Versailles in September of 2015. God willing, Sharon and I will visit the Palace of Versailles in April of 2027.