Let me eat cake

Sometimes I listen to the corporate media movie reviewers too much and I miss out on good movies because they give them bad reviews. I'm not really sure why I do that, after all I have long stopped listening to their blathering about politics and world affairs because I know better than to believe their pro corporate hype, so I really should do the same thing when it comes to films.

After reading a post by Matty Boy, or as I call him, 'my west coast doppelganger,' about the films of Sofia Coppola, I decided to catch the one film of hers that I have not seen yet. So last night we watched this film: And while it's not great, it's still pretty damn good. The corporate media reviewers did not like this film for two reasons and those reasons are that the film portrays Marie Antoinette in a sympathetic light and the soundtrack was too "modern," Ms. Coppola uses a lot of rock music instead of the usual Mozart, Bach, and the like.

They make the point, which is oh so true, in the "making of" feature, which runs waaaaaaaaaaay too long by the way, that Marie was a victim of bad publicity and that she never said those infamous words, "Let them eat cake" when she heard that the French people had no bread. She was the victim of Jacobean "swiftboating." History has not been kind to her due to the lies and distortions of the hopped up French revolutionary mobs. Was she an out of touch rich snob? Yes. Was she part of the entrenched ruling class that lived off the backs of the poor? Yes. Was she a pampered obscenely rich white woman who never had to work a day in her life? Yes. But was she a calculating vindictive twat who mocked the starving people? No. She was born into privilege and she took full advantage of it, much like Cindy Bush-McCain does today. To have a film like this portray her closer to what she really was is to upset a couple hundred years of entrenched historical fallacy, fallacies that are held dear by many of the corporate media movie reviewers.

The use of modern rock and roll in the soundtrack, while distracting to some, was entirely appropriate because this film sought to throw off the shackles of distorted history and show a modern take on the life of Marie Antoinette. The choice of modern music reflected Coppola's modern look at Antoinette's life. The script was daring and modern, so the music had to be also.
All in all I enjoyed the film and the performances by all the leads in the cast. Kirsten Dunst was very well cast and did a super job in her role. She was the picture of milky cuteness and she looked great in and out of her period costumes. I loved Judy Davis, my adopted actor Shirley Henderson, Molly Shannon, Rip Torn, and Asia Argentino as well.

The movie was well shot, it has a ton of great odd shots with odd camera angles all through out it. It's well edited, and well scored as well. I'll say this for Ms. Coppola, she may not be the greatest actor in the world, but she does make a damn fine film. I recommend this movie, as well as all her other ones, especially Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides.