Marie Antoinette

Kirsten Dunst usually feels cast a little out of her depth, but here her lightness matches the material. And god bless Sofia Coppola and what, after Lost in Translation’s opening shot and now this, we can call her emblematic behind (say it with me, “BEE-hind”) shots. Jason Schwartzman, nepotistically blessed or not, is just right as a repressed Louis XVI. And there are lots of solid, supporting performances from Steve Coogan, Rip Torn, Danny Huston; even little Molly Shannon.

But what you’ve come for here are the production values. Coppola was allowed to shoot in the real deal Holyfield Palace of Versailles, and it’s beautiful. And you could just never duplicate the long shots of the grounds. The costume and pastry designers seem to have gotten together to make the first half of the movie look like a delicious pink cupcake. During the second half, which finds Marie spending time at her retreat on the palace grounds, Petit Trianon, the shots and lighting and costumes take on a naturalistic feel. It’s as if Marie, freed from the repression of courtly expectations, wanders into a Terence Malick movie. You get two, two, two movies in one.

The plot is almost unimportant. Marie’s adrift in her new home, with an inept, inattentive husband, she’s burdened by the expectation that she’ll bear an heir to head off war between France and her Austrian homeland, which is difficult to do when your husband takes 6 years to put his first, awkward move on you, blah blah blah. This is a throwaway grrrl power movie that will be scored by Avril Lavigne when it’s remade in 2027. But, oh, you pretty things.

By the way, I've used the CD soundtrack cover art above for obvious reasons. I mean, how fugly is the US poster?!