Marie Antoinette

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Coppola: My friend told me that a lot of moms and pre-teen daughters watch it together as a sort of tradition. There was a screening a few years ago where I got to watch it on a big screen with my daughter, and it was so gratifying to see it through her eyes and how into it she was.

I enjoyed this book because Ms. Fraser has a wonderful writing style and she weaves the story of Marie Antoinette from start to finish and even though we know the outcome, it is hard to put down this book. The author’s research is quite detailed and written with little-known facts including Count Axel von Fersen’s role with the queen and her family, attempts to save the royal family, and the king’s failure to consummate the marriage. Coppola made it clear from the beginning that she didn’t want her cast to adopt French accents. If no one in the film was speaking the language, she argued there was no point in attempting an imitation. Rousseau does not name the "great princess", and he may have invented the anecdote altogether, as the Confessions is not considered entirely factual. [6] Attribution to Marie Antoinette [ edit ]Learn about the life of Marie-Antoinette and her execution by guillotine in 1793 See all videos for this article Upon her arrival in Versailles, Marie Antoinette lived in the Queen’s State Apartment and was bound by the official rituals of her royal position: the waking-up ceremony, the elaborate preparations, royal audiences, public meals, etc. Having grown up with the less elaborate ceremonial routine of Austria’s royal palaces, she had a hard time adapting to Versailles’ complex etiquette and tried to seek out a more private life. Surrounded by a circle of friends whom she had chosen herself (although not always wisely), she preferred to remain in her Private Chambers, located behind her State Apartments and which she hoped to extend into the floor above, and in the Petit Trianon, built by Louis XV and given to her as a gift by Louis XVI on his accession. The role that she played in French internal and foreign policy between the accession of Louis XVI and the outbreak of the Revolution has probably been much exaggerated. Her efforts, for example, to secure the return to power of Étienne-François de Choiseul, duc de Choiseul, in 1774 were unsuccessful. The fall of finance minister Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot in 1776 must be attributed to the hostility of chief royal adviser Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas, and to the differences that arose between Turgot and foreign minister Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, over French participation in the American Revolution rather than to the direct intervention of the queen. Marie-Antoinette was not, at that time, interested in politics except as a way of securing favours for her friends, and her political influence never exceeded that formerly wielded by the royal mistresses of Louis XV.

Lucie de la Tour du Pin was the Pepys of her generation. She witnessed, participated in, and wrote diaries detailing one of the most tumultuous periods of history. From life in the Court of Versailles, through the French Revolution to Napoleon's rule, Lucie survived extraordinary times with great spirit. She recorded people, politics and intrigue, alongside the intriguing minutia of everyday life: food, work, illness, children, manners and clothes.Coppola: I definitely wanted the casting to have a pop aspect, hence having people like Marianne Faithfull and Molly Shannon. I think you can pretty much put powder and make-up on anybody to fit a certain aesthetic. It was fun because I got to cast people I really admire.

Coppola: I made reference boards that had a lot of New Romantic visuals and John Galliano’s work at Dior. He designed some dresses inspired by Marie Antoinette and I loved that mix of 18th-century fashion and couture. Milena is a genius and completely understood what I was going for. She interpreted the era with such a fresh feeling and palette. Marie was into fashion so we wanted the film to feel fashionable. On a May morning in 1664, in the small village of Versailles, as hundreds of young aristocrats are coming to pay court to King Louis XIV, a peasant fan-maker gives birth to her first and only child, Marguerite. Determined to give her daughter a better life than the one she herself has lived, the young mother vows to break the newborn’s bonds of poverty and ensure that she fulfills her… With production over, some of the film’s more high-end contributions were returned to their owners, such as Blahnik’s eye-popping footwear. Sony and a private collector bought the bulk of the costumes while Canonero kept “a few”. Otherwise, the art department assembled a “fire sale” to sell off all the other luxury items used in Marie Antoinette. In the months following Louis XVI's execution, Marie Antoinette's fate was uncertain. Some argued that she should remain a hostage, or perhaps be used in a prisoner exchange, but the rise of the radical Jacobins and the reign of the infamous Committee of Public Safety sealed her fate. Following the failure of the Carnation Plot to free her from prison, the Widow Capet was tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal on 14 October, charged with a variety of crimes including high treason. Found guilty, she was condemned to death and was guillotined on 16 October 1793. Her last words, after accidentally stepping on the foot of her executioner, were "Pardon, monsieur. I did not do it on purpose" (Fraser, 440). Katz: He wasn’t mean, just cranky. It killed the vibe a little bit. If he wouldn’t leave his trailer, I’d go up to Asia and say, “I hate to do this since it’s my job, but can you get him?”This was one of the first studies of Marie Antoinette that aimed to take seriously her style as a critical political tool, one that worked both for the ill-fated French queen and against her. The study of bodily adornment, clothing, and fashion choices are now a key part of how we understand gender politics and the politics of the body both in history and in our own lives. Kirsten Dunst, Sofia Coppola, and Jason Schwartzman at a photocall for the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Getty Images