Huh... look at that... I haven't posted in some time! No excuses. Sometimes, that's just how it is.
So, anyway, Jon was in town last weekend! Yay! That was fun... We had a delightful, yet crude, hit-or-miss driving tour of important DC buildings (and the Ikea store)and he put up with me exploring the dark and mysterious Georgetown Mall... and we got to see some movies in an actual theatre!
And I'd been really excited about seeing Marie Antoinette... every other Sophia Coppola effort I've seen has been understated and sardonic without, necessarily, undercutting its own Romanticism. I've found this an appealing mix. And really, I feel like poor Sophia did all she could with this movie. She plugs stridently though, applying a lithely ironic hand, now and again, to a story that is about as rapturous as the Paris Hilton: E! True Hollywood Story. Truly, it's a gorgeously shot, very well-propped little piece of French pastry... but how interesting can two hours of eating eclairs, trying on pink shoes and wondering when the Dauphin (a chubby and un-sexy Jason Schwartzman (Louis XVI was Jewish?)) is gonna finally get down to business with a (not particularly virginal) Kirsten Dunst really get? I wanted to really love this movie-- I wanted to find in it some discussion of the culture that could create a person who was on the tip of every French tongue, and yet, knew so little about the very realm she ruled. But it wasn't there.
If I'm going to give this movie the benefit of the doubt, I'll have to consider that it might be a veiled indictment of this headcold of celebrity adulation that seems to be going around these days... but, really, that doesn't help the fact that our dear departed, beheaded queen of France led a deeply, deeply boring life-- up until the last 3 minutes of this movie, anyway. And a boring life doesn't necessarily lead to a boring movie-- but, alas, this one sure did. I'll equate it with, perhaps, Ellie Parker on my bore-ificense scale. Sorry, Ms. Coppola... try applying your zesty New Wave soundtrack to your more intriguing lower-budget fair, why dontcha?
5 comments:
Good to see you post again. Interesting. A few things you may not know about Sophia Carmina Coppola: Father, Oscar winning director Francis Ford Coppola; Grandfather, Oscar winning composer Carmine Coppola; Cousin, Oscar winning, actor Nicholas Cage; Aunt, Oscar nominated actress Talia Shire; Cousin, actor Jason Schwartzman. One of the few people who appeared in all three Godfather films: her film debut:, the baby being baptized (Michael Rizzi) near the end of G-I (1972), uncredited; a little girl on the boat bringing Vito Corleone to America in G-2 (1974) , uncredited; significant role of Mary Corleone in G-3 (1990, replacing Winona Ryder). One of only three women (the only American) ever Oscar nominated for best director (Lost in Translation, 2003, which she also wrote and produced); the others were New Zealander Jane Campion (The Piano, 1993) and Italian Lina Wertmuller (Pasqualino Settebellezze, English Title Seven Beauties, 1975). Ms. Coppola wrote, produced and directed Marie Antoinette, so if it's "vapid" she has no one to blame but herself. Hope you enjoy the trivia. How do I know this shit? I'm a serious movie buff, baby. By the way, I think Kirsten Dunst is so hot.
Washdeh lahkeh,
Ceta
For the record-- it's not the movie that's vapid. It tries very hard not to be. However, Marie Antoinette's life was... and therefore couldn't possibly make for interesting enough fodder to fill two hours.
And thank you for reproducing the Sophia Coppola IMDb page!
Alas, I find IMDb such a snore. Offers so little discussion of content. A utilitarian document, at best.
the film was boring and long, but it was well directed . . .
jason schwartzman already has obtained the ability to be funny at doing almost anything w/o saying a word. Thank goodness Rushmore was not his beginning and end, as it appeared it might be.
Jason Schwartzman is an odd duck. He's almost cute-- but somehow always manages to behave in a manner to makes him sorta repulsive to me. I find it rather brave that he has no problem being a total ass on screen. And you're right-- he is rather quiet in his comedy.
i was dissappointed too. but i think coppola reached her goal. she wasn't being all that ambitious and she put in exactly what she got out of it.
i think dunst was the strange duck in this one. so contemporary -- really the queen of france/princess of austria saying "this is ridiculous"? she was too contemporary to let me fall into her world. but, again, i think it was coppola's intent to make her a 2006 woman. she funneled her self into antoinette, a bit too obviously, though. thinly veiled autobiography. strange woman to choose too. but considering her debut film, it jives with her sense of humor.
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