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I'd heard the reports of the audience booing this film at Cannes, but that didn't really bother me. I'd read several quite positive reviews of it, but they suggested there was little more to the film than a lot of lavish partying, which did put me off slightly. But I've seen it nonetheless and I think that those descriptions are underselling the film. Sure, there are a lot of parties, but there's much more to Marie Antoinette than that. The film, like Sofia Coppola's previous one, the critically praised Lost in Translation, has a strangely captivating quality that I just can't quite put my finger on; it has a slow pace and not much of a story but it just works. What's more, the film looks magnificent, making full use of being able to film on location in Versailles, and the costume designer clearly had a field day. Kirsten Dunst gives probably her best performance yet, making Marie Antoinette a very likeable and rather sympathetic figure. Much has been made of the use of a contemporary soundtrack in the film, and I think it worked surprisingly well; it was certainly unusual but somehow seemed to fit the setting perfectly, with some well chosen songs. Not all of the music is modern, either, with some classical music used too. In the end I found the film very powerful and even moving, and I hadn't expected to like it so much. Definitely worth a shot.
The summary
Marie Antoinette will certainly polarise opinion. Go in with an open mind, though, and not expecting a film with much action (or indeed plot), and you should find it to be a uniquely engrossing experience.
