| Marie Antoinette | |
|---|---|
.png) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Sofia Coppola |
| Screenplay by | Sofia Coppola |
| Based on | Marie Antoinette: The Journey 2001 biography byAntonia Fraser |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Lance Acord |
| Edited by | Sarah Flack |
| Music by | Dustin O'Halloran |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 123 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $40 million[3] |
| Box office | $60.9 million[4] |
Marie Antoinette is a 2006historical drama film written, directed, and produced bySofia Coppola. Based on the 2001 biographyMarie Antoinette: The Journey byAntonia Fraser, the film covers the life ofMarie Antoinette, in the years leading to theFrench Revolution. The film starsKirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette, alongside anensemble cast, which includesJason Schwartzman,Judy Davis,Rip Torn,Rose Byrne,Asia Argento,Molly Shannon,Shirley Henderson,Danny Huston,Steve Coogan, andJamie Dornan in his film debut.[5][6]
Marie Antoinette premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and was theatrically released in North America on October 20, 2006, bySony Pictures Releasing. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics, and did moderately well at box office, grossing approximately $60.9 million against its $40 million budget.Marie Antoinette won theBest Costume Design at the79th Academy Awards. Despite its initial reception, retrospective reviews have been more positive, and the film has since garnered acult following.[7]
Fourteen-year-old Marie Antoinette, the daughter and youngest child of Holy Roman EmpressMaria Theresa ofAustria, is a beautiful, charming and naïvearchduchess. In 1770, she is sent away in order to wed the futureLouis XVI, theDauphin of France, to seal an alliance between the two rival countries.
Marie Antoinette travels toFrance, relinquishing all connections with her home country, and meets KingLouis XV and her future husband, the Dauphin. The betrothed young couple arrive at thePalace of Versailles and are married at once. They are encouraged to produce an heir to the throne as soon as possible, but the next day it is reported to the king that "nothing happened" on the wedding night.
As time passes, Marie Antoinette finds life at the court of Versailles stifling. Her husband's courtiers disdain her as a foreigner and blame her for not producing an heir, although the fault really lies with her husband, for the marriage remains unconsummated for an inordinate amount of time. The French court is rife with gossip, and Marie Antoinette consistently ruffles feathers by defying its ritualistic formality. She instead spends much of her time with the few friends she has in Versailles, including the conservativePrincesse de Lamballe and the flamboyantDuchess of Polignac.
Marie Antoinette also refuses to meet or speak withMadame du Barry, the mistress of Louis XV. Over the years, Maria Theresa continues to write to her daughter, giving advice on how to impress and seduce the Dauphin. Marie Antoinette's attempts to consummate her marriage with her husband fail and they remain childless. Marie spends most of her time buying extravagant clothes and gambling.
After a masquerade ball, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI return to find the king dying ofsmallpox; he orders du Barry to leave Versailles. After the king's death, Marie Antoinette's husband succeeds him as Louis XVI at the age of 19, and Marie Antoinette becomesqueen consort at age 18.
Marie Antoinette's brother,Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, comes to visit, counseling her against her constant parties, advice that she finds easy to ignore. Joseph meets Louis XVI at the Royal Zoo and explains to him the "mechanics" of sexual intercourse in terms of "key-making", as one of the king's favorite hobbies islocksmithing. Thereafter, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette have sex for the first time, and in 1778, Marie Antoinette gives birth to a daughter,Marie Thérèse.
As the child matures, Marie Antoinette spends much of her time at thePetit Trianon, a small chateau in the park of Versailles. It is also at this time that she begins an affair withAxel Fersen. As France's financial crisis worsens, food shortages and riots intensify, her public image deteriorates and her luxurious lifestyle and seeming indifference to the struggles of the French people earned her the name "Madame Deficit".
As the queen matures, Marie Antoinette focuses less on her social life and more on her family and makes what she considers to be significant financial adjustments. Her mother dies in 1780, and the following year she gives birth to a son,Louis-Joseph, Dauphin of France. She gives birth to another son,Louis-Charles, in 1785, and another daughter,Sophie, in 1786, who dies a month before her first birthday.
As the French Revolution erupts with thestorming of the Bastille, the royal family resolves to stay in France, unlike most of the court. The angry people of France force them to leave Versailles forParis. The film ends with the royal family's transfer to theTuileries. The last image is Marie Antoinette's bedroom at Versailles, destroyed by angry rioters.
The film was planned to be an adaptation ofÉvelyne Lever'sMarie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France, a biography she wrote for American readers in 2000. Sofia Coppola bought the rights twice, but in the end she choseAntonia Fraser's biographyMarie Antoinette: The Journey instead of Lever's book as the basis for her adaptation.[8] The production was given unprecedented access to thePalace of Versailles.[9] The film takes the same sympathetic view of Marie Antoinette's life as was presented in Antonia Fraser's biography. Coppola said the style for shooting was greatly influenced by the films ofStanley Kubrick,Terrence Malick, andMiloš Forman as well as byKen Russell'sLisztomania.[citation needed]
While the action happens in Versailles (including the Queen'sPetit Trianon and theHameau de la Reine) and theParis Opera (which was built after the death of the real Marie Antoinette), some scenes were shot inVaux-le-Vicomte,Château de Chantilly,Hôtel de Soubise and at theBelvedere in Vienna.
Milena Canonero and six assistant designers created the gowns, hats, suits and prop costume pieces. Ten rental houses were employed, and the wardrobe unit had seven transport drivers. Shoes were made byManolo Blahnik andPompei, and hundreds of wigs and hair pieces were made by Rocchetti & Rocchetti. As revealed in the "Making of" documentary on the DVD, the look of Count von Fersen was influenced by 1980s rock singerAdam Ant.Ladurée made the pastries for the film; itsmacarons are featured in a scene between Marie-Antoinette and Ambassador Mercy.[10]
TheMarie Antoinette soundtrack containsnew wave andpost-punk bandsNew Order,Gang of Four,The Cure,Siouxsie and the Banshees,Bow Wow Wow,Adam and the Ants,the Strokes,Dustin O'Halloran andthe Radio Dept. Some scenes utiliseperiod music byFrançois Couperin,Antonio Vivaldi,Jean-Philippe Rameau andDomenico Scarlatti. The soundtrack also includes songs byelectronic musiciansSquarepusher andAphex Twin.
Roger Neill served as a historic music consultant on the film.[11]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hong Kong Garden" (with strings intro) | Kenny Morris, John McKay, Steven Severin, Siouxsie Sioux | Siouxsie and the Banshees | 3:10 |
| 2. | "Aphrodisiac" | Matthew Ashman, Dave Barbarossa, Leigh Gorman, Annabella Lwin, Malcolm McLaren | Bow Wow Wow | 2:57 |
| 3. | "What Ever Happened?" | Julian Casablancas | The Strokes | 2:48 |
| 4. | "Pulling Our Weight" | Johan Duncanson, Martin Larsson | The Radio Dept. | 3:21 |
| 5. | "Ceremony" | Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner | New Order | 4:22 |
| 6. | "Natural's Not in It" | Hugo Burnham, Andrew Gill, Jon King | Gang of Four | 3:06 |
| 7. | "I Want Candy" (Kevin Shields remix) | Bert Berns, Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein /Richard Gottehrer | Bow Wow Wow | 2:39 |
| 8. | "Kings of the Wild Frontier" | Adam Ant, Marco Pirroni | Adam and the Ants | 3:56 |
| 9. | "Concerto in G" (from"Concerto for Strings and Continuo in G major" RV 151Concerto alla rustica: I presto) | Antonio Vivaldi | Roger Neill | 2:31 |
| 10. | "The Melody of a Fallen Tree" | Dan Matz, Jason McNeely | Windsor for the Derby | 8:16 |
| 11. | "I Don't Like It Like This" | Johan Duncanson | The Radio Dept. | 4:08 |
| 12. | "Plainsong" | Simon Gallup, Roger O'Donnell, Laurence Tolhurst, Boris Williams | The Cure | 5:08 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Intro Versailles" | 0:37 | ||
| 2. | "Jynweythek Ylow" | Aphex Twin | Aphex Twin | 2:35 |
| 3. | "Opus 17" | Dustin O'Halloran | Dustin O'Halloran | 2:03 |
| 4. | "Il Secondo Giorno" (instrumental) | Jean-Benoît Dunckel, Nicolas Godin | Air | 4:57 |
| 5. | "Keen On Boys" | Johan Duncanson, Martin Larsson | The Radio Dept. | 4:49 |
| 6. | "Opus 23" | Dustin O'Halloran | Dustin O'Halloran | 3:08 |
| 7. | "Les barricades mystérieuses" | François Couperin | Patricia Mabee | 2:35 |
| 8. | "Fools Rush In" (Kevin Shields remix) | Rube Bloom, Johnny Mercer | Bow Wow Wow | 2:19 |
| 9. | "Avril 14th" | Aphex Twin | Aphex Twin | 1:58 |
| 10. | "K. 213" | Domenico Scarlatti | Patricia Mabee | 4:22 |
| 11. | "Tommib Help Buss" | Tom Jenkinson | Squarepusher | 2:10 |
| 12. | "Tristes apprêts, pâles flambeaux" (fromCastor et Pollux RCT 32, Act I, Scene III:Air de Télaïre) | Jean Philippe Rameau | Agnès Mellon,William Christie andLes Arts Florissants | 5:54 |
| 13. | "Opus 36" | Dustin O'Halloran | Dustin O'Halloran | 1:45 |
| 14. | "All Cats Are Grey" | Simon Gallup, Laurence Tolhurst | The Cure | 5:23 |
In several 2006 interviews, Coppola suggests that her highly stylised interpretation was intentionally very modern in order to humanise the historical figures involved. She admitted to taking great artistic liberties with the source material, and said that the film does not focus simply on historical facts – "It is not a lesson of history. It is an interpretation documented, but carried by my desire for covering the subject differently."[12]
Marie Antoinette received both applause and some boos during earlyCannes Film Festival press screenings, which one reviewer supposes was because some of the French journalists may have been offended that the film was not sufficiently critical of the regime's decadence.[13] However, film criticRoger Ebert clarified that, in actuality, only a couple of journalists had been booing during the press screening, and that the media had sensationalised the event. He stated that booing is more common in Europe, and sometimes done when someone feels that a film is "politically incorrect".[14]
Marie Antoinette received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. The film holds an approval rating of 57% onRotten Tomatoes based on 218 reviews with an average rating of 6.10/10. The website's critics consensus states, "Lavish imagery and a daring soundtrack set this film apart from most period dramas; in fact, style completely takes precedence over plot and character development in Coppola's vision of the doomed queen."[15]Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[16] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.[17]
People magazine's movie critic, Leah Rozen, wrote in her wrap-up of Cannes that, "The absence of political context ... upset most critics ofMarie Antoinette, director Sofia Coppola's featherweight follow-up toLost in Translation. Her historical biopic plays like a pop video, with Kirsten Dunst as the doomed 18th century French queen acting like a teenageflibbertigibbet intent on being the leader of the cool kids' club."[18] Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four. He stated that, "every criticism I have read of this film would alter its fragile magic and reduce its romantic and tragic poignancy to the level of an instructional film. This is Sofia Coppola's third film centering on the loneliness of being female and surrounded by a world that knows how to use you but not how to value and understand you."[19] The critic forMSN, Dave McCoy, described it as a great satire, "I laughed, as I had been doing for the past twenty minutes. I was laughing at the satire, at Coppola's brash approach and from the pure joy that a great film can trigger."[14]
In 2025, it was one of the films that received votes the "Readers' Choice" edition ofThe New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 211.[20]
The film's critical reception in France was generally positive. It has anaggregate score of 4/5 on the French cinema siteAlloCiné, based on 21 reviews from professional critics.[21] In the French trade journal,Le Film Francais, a third of the critics gave it their highest rating—"worthy of thePalme d'Or."[14] Film criticMichel Ciment similarly rated it as worthy of the Palme d'Or.[14]
Critics who gave the film positive reviews included Danielle Attali ofLe Journal du Dimanche, who praised it as "a true wonder, with stunning colors, sensations, emotions, intelligence".[21] François Vey ofLe Parisien found it to be "funny, upbeat, impertinent" and "in a word, iconoclastic".[21] Philippe Paumier of the French edition ofRolling Stone said that, "Transformed into a sanctuary for the senses, the microcosm of power becomes this moving drama of first emotions andMarie Antoinette, the most delicate of looks on adolescence".[21] Frodon, editor ofLes Cahiers du cinéma, praised Coppola for her"'genius' at portraying adolescent alienation."[22]
Among negative critical reviews, Jean-Luc Douin ofLe Monde describedMarie Antoinette as "kitsch androc(k)oco" which "deliberately displays itsanachronisms", and additionally as a "sensory film" that was "dreamt by aMiss California" and "orchestrated around the Du Barry or Madame de Polignac playground gossip".[23] Alex Masson ofScore thought the film had a script "which is often forgotten to the corruption of becoming a special issue ofVogue devoted to scenes of Versailles".[21]
French critics were annoyed with the loose portrayal of real historical events and figures inMarie Antoinette. Although it was filmed at Versailles, to capture the splendor of eighteenth-century royal life, some critics took issue with or did not understand why Coppola intermixed period music with contemporary music, for instance, using soundtracks by artists such as the Cure and the Strokes – or why she intermixed modern products, such asConverse sneakers, with formal period shoes. Although one historian explains that while they may be distracting, "they also convey the rebelliousness of a young woman, frustrated, bored, isolated, and yet always on display."[24] An example of this combining of the actual period with modern times is a scene when Marie Antoinette and her friends enjoy a shopping spree and feast on luxurious sweets, champagne, clothing, shoes and jewellery to Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy".[22]
In the newspaperLe Figaro, historianJean Tulard called the film "Versailles inHollywood sauce", saying that it "dazzles" with a "deployment of wigs, fans and pastries, a symphony of colors" which "all [mask] some gross errors and voluntary anachronisms".[25] In the magazineL'Internaute,Évelyne Lever, a historian and authority on Marie Antoinette, described the film as "far from historical reality". She wrote that the film's characterisation of Marie Antoinette lacked historical authenticity and psychological development: "In reality she did not spend her time eating pastries and drinking champagne! [...] In the movie Marie Antoinette is the same from 15 to 33 years". She also expressed the view that "better historical films" such asBarry Lyndon andThe Madness of King George succeeded because their directors were "steeped in the culture of the time they evoked".[8]
Coppola responded to the critics by explaining that she was interested in showing "the real human being behind the myths..."[22]
My goal was to capture in the design the way in which I imagined the essence of Marie Antoinette's spirit...so the film's candy colors, its atmosphere and teenaged music all reflect and are meant to evoke how I saw that world from Marie Antoinette's perspective."[22]
In the United States and Canada,Marie Antoinette opened with $5,361,050 from 859 theatres, with an average of $6,241 per theatre.[26] Nevertheless, the film quickly faded, grossing $15,962,471 in North America and $60,917,189 worldwide, against a production budget of $40 million.[4]Marie Antoinette made $7,870,774 in France, where the film is set, but fared less well in the United Kingdom, where it took $1,727,858 at the box office, while the film's biggest international market was Japan, where it earned a total of $15,735,433.[4]
| Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Best Costume Design | Milena Canonero | Won | [27] |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Production Design | K. K. Barrett and Véronique Melery | Nominated | [28] |
| Best Costume Design | Milena Canonero | Nominated | ||
| Best Makeup and Hair | Desiree Corridoni and Jean-Luc Russier | Nominated | ||
| Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Sofia Coppola | Nominated | [29] |
| National Education Award | Won | [30] | ||
| Palm Dog Award | Mops | Won | [31] | |
| Costume Designers Guild Awards | Excellence in Period Film | Milena Canonero | Nominated | [32] |
| Critics' Choice Awards | Best Soundtrack | Marie Antoinette | Nominated | [33] |
| Gotham Independent Film Awards | Best Feature | Sofia Coppola, director;Ross Katz and Sofia Coppola, producers (Sony Pictures) | Nominated | |
| Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards | Best Art Direction | Pierre du Boisberranger andAnne Seibel | Won | |
| Best Costume Design | Milena Canonero | Won | ||
| Nastro d'Argento Awards | Best Costume Design | Won | ||
| Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards | Best Costume Design | Won | ||
| Best Production Design | K. K. Barrett | Won | ||
| Satellite Awards | Best Art Direction and Production Design | K. K. Barrett | Nominated | |
| Best Costume Design | Milena Canonero | Nominated | ||
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards | Best Art Direction | Anne Seibel | Won |
TheRegion 1 and Region 2 DVD versions ofMarie Antoinette were released in February 2007. Special features on the disc included a making-of featurette, two deleted scenes and a brief parody segment ofMTV Cribs, featuring Jason Schwartzman as Louis XVI. No commentary was available for the DVD. In France, the double-disc edition included additional special features: Sofia Coppola's first short film,Lick the Star, and aBBC documentary on Marie Antoinette. A collector's edition boxset, entitled "Coffret Royal", was also released in France, and included the double-disc edition of the movie,Antonia Fraser's biography, photographs and afan. The Japanese edition was released on July 19. This two-disc edition included the same extra features as the North American release, though it also included the American, European and Japanese theatrical trailers and Japanese TV spots. A limited-edition special Japanese boxed set contained the two disc DVD set, a jewellery box, aSwarovski high-heeled shoe brooch, a hand mirror, and a lace handkerchief.
Pathe Films released aBlu-ray version ofMarie Antoinette on January 4, 2012, alongside Coppola's first filmThe Virgin Suicides exclusively in France. It ports over the previously released bonus features along with the previously released short film and documentary from the French DVD. While it is a region-free disc, the English-language track contains forced subtitles and theBBC documentary is not English-friendly.
A manufacture on demand Blu-ray was released through Sony's Choice Collection on October 6, 2016.[34] This release, along with other Choice Collection releases, was strongly criticized for being a BD-R disc, which means it is a burnt disc instead of pressed, these discs are essentially abootleg and a BD-R is more susceptible to damage and has a much shorter lifespan of about 10 years opposed to a pressed disc lasting for 100 years if properly cared for. Reviews were mixed of the Blu-ray video quality, withHigh Def Digest stating "Everything carries the unfocused blur of non-HD video".[35]
Another Blu-ray of the film, unlike the first release that was sold online, was physically released by Mill Creek Entertainment on October 29, 2019, as part of a double feature set containing that and Kirsten Dunst's fellow filmLittle Women.
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