" I have enough diamonds."
5 Stars
5 Stars
Simply breathtaking. So far these reviews have been easy to write. They just flow.
But with this movie my thoughts run wild and I'm having a hard time figuring out where to start.
So this one may be a little sporadic.
First thing you hear is the music. Gang of Four, New Order, Air, Aphex Twin, and Bow Wow Wow.
The most impressive to me were the use of The Cure, and Siouxsie and The Banshees.
A ballroom scene where everyone is dancing, and drinking like only the 18th centurions could do is accompanied with Siouxsie's "Hong Kong Garden". And it strangely fits! Maybe because my generation grew up on 80's music videos where powdered wigs were paired with keyboards, and new wave make-up.
One song in particular that was too much for me was The Cure's "Plainsong". My best friend and I have had a long relationship with The Cure in our young teenage years, and this song even now I felt is the most romantic song I've ever heard. I kid you not, when I heard those chimes that sound as familiar as my own name play, while watching the prince be crowned king, and seeing Antoinette painted like a picture, my heart hurt. I had pain! Too beautiful for my body to handle.
The clothes. Detail, detail, detail. Over the top. A touch of edge to them, but not enough that it takes you out of the period. I am overjoyed that it won this years Oscar for costume design.
The details were also in the food! I saw on the "Behind the Scenes" footage, that Sofia hired a Food Historian for the film. The cookies, the fruit, the meat and vegetables were made not only to nourish, but also to entertain. Everything was so over the top, and wild. As her and her friends run a pool to watch the sunset, I just think to myself "Who's to say it wasn't like that?".
My Mother put it best. She said by watching this movie, she could tell Sofia was making it for herself.
"This is how she sees it." As if she doesn't care if we get it or not, it's for her. I picture a 13 year old Sofia listening to her Walkman, in her big Coppola house, getting lost in her own halls of Versailles. I get it.
Lets see,,,music, clothes, 13 year old girl...Oh yeah, the story!
It seems we all know something about Marie Antoinette. Top of the list is that she got her head chopped off. Which is not in the movie. Some folks had a problem with this, but I don't feel that was the point of the movie. This is about a 15 year old girl. Fifteen! She now has to be prepped to be a Queen and hurry to make babies with an impotent husband who is as young as she is. The pressure this young girl has on her is terrible. Say what you will, women have come a long way.
Soffia did such a great job conveying Marie's daily life. To show the monotony of her day, I love how the same regal song accompanies her day in day out luxurious rituals.
Fun Fact : When people were sent to the guillotine they were silent and "brave". Not Marie. Now remember hangings were an event, especially hers. The guillotine was almost like a sport and was very popular. Because of Marie's kicking, screaming, and pleading the public changed their mind about the guillotine. Hers was one of the last. She made it too human.
As did Coppola with this film, surreal as it was. I was very sympathetic toward Antoinette. She was just trying her best. To be a good wife, mother, and tried to keep her sanity in such a regimented and formal gilded prison.
But with this movie my thoughts run wild and I'm having a hard time figuring out where to start.
So this one may be a little sporadic.
First thing you hear is the music. Gang of Four, New Order, Air, Aphex Twin, and Bow Wow Wow.
The most impressive to me were the use of The Cure, and Siouxsie and The Banshees.
A ballroom scene where everyone is dancing, and drinking like only the 18th centurions could do is accompanied with Siouxsie's "Hong Kong Garden". And it strangely fits! Maybe because my generation grew up on 80's music videos where powdered wigs were paired with keyboards, and new wave make-up.
One song in particular that was too much for me was The Cure's "Plainsong". My best friend and I have had a long relationship with The Cure in our young teenage years, and this song even now I felt is the most romantic song I've ever heard. I kid you not, when I heard those chimes that sound as familiar as my own name play, while watching the prince be crowned king, and seeing Antoinette painted like a picture, my heart hurt. I had pain! Too beautiful for my body to handle.
The clothes. Detail, detail, detail. Over the top. A touch of edge to them, but not enough that it takes you out of the period. I am overjoyed that it won this years Oscar for costume design.
The details were also in the food! I saw on the "Behind the Scenes" footage, that Sofia hired a Food Historian for the film. The cookies, the fruit, the meat and vegetables were made not only to nourish, but also to entertain. Everything was so over the top, and wild. As her and her friends run a pool to watch the sunset, I just think to myself "Who's to say it wasn't like that?".
My Mother put it best. She said by watching this movie, she could tell Sofia was making it for herself.
"This is how she sees it." As if she doesn't care if we get it or not, it's for her. I picture a 13 year old Sofia listening to her Walkman, in her big Coppola house, getting lost in her own halls of Versailles. I get it.
Lets see,,,music, clothes, 13 year old girl...Oh yeah, the story!
It seems we all know something about Marie Antoinette. Top of the list is that she got her head chopped off. Which is not in the movie. Some folks had a problem with this, but I don't feel that was the point of the movie. This is about a 15 year old girl. Fifteen! She now has to be prepped to be a Queen and hurry to make babies with an impotent husband who is as young as she is. The pressure this young girl has on her is terrible. Say what you will, women have come a long way.
Soffia did such a great job conveying Marie's daily life. To show the monotony of her day, I love how the same regal song accompanies her day in day out luxurious rituals.
Fun Fact : When people were sent to the guillotine they were silent and "brave". Not Marie. Now remember hangings were an event, especially hers. The guillotine was almost like a sport and was very popular. Because of Marie's kicking, screaming, and pleading the public changed their mind about the guillotine. Hers was one of the last. She made it too human.
As did Coppola with this film, surreal as it was. I was very sympathetic toward Antoinette. She was just trying her best. To be a good wife, mother, and tried to keep her sanity in such a regimented and formal gilded prison.
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