Marie_Antoinette

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette is a movie about the private life of the last queen of France before the Revolution. At the age of fourteen, Marie Antoinette was sent from Austria as part of an arranged marriage which will hopefully bring peace between France and Austria. She must adapt to the unfamiliar etiquette of the court of Versailles and fulfill her duty to provide the next heir to the throne. Her marriage was a failure, and caused her to seek comfort in a reckless series of balls, banquets, parties and spends a fortune on jewellery and shoes. Her marriage improved after the old king dies and her husband becomes the king, they fall in love and have several children. It all went downhill when one of her children died; she was wounded by public hostility. As the people of France started revolting, an angry mob stormed the palace. Facing the crowd from her balcony, Marie Antoinette bows to them and impresses them with her bravery. In the final scene of the movie, the royal family is seen taken away, ready to be sent to Paris as prisoners of the revolution. There were portions of the movie where it was historically accurate. For instance, when Marie Antoinette was sent to France, she did have to get rid of everything she owned that was Austrian, including her dog. This was so she could become a true Dauphine of France. The morning rituals were all correct. Marie Antoinette had to be dressed by highly-ranking noblewomen that were related to her, and only her closest relatives were able to clothe her. The King Louis XV did die of smallpox, and Louis XVI did say, when he found out that he had become king “Dear God protect us, for we are too young to reign.” Marie Antoinette’s brother, the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II did visit her to ask about the condition of her marriage. He also talked to Louis about sex, which was successful in that the marriage was finally consummated. The Ambassador who stayed with Marie Antoinette in France and helped her when she was troubled did actually exist. Louis XVI sent funds to America to aid them in their revolution also was historically accurate. This led to France going into debt, and the people blamed Marie and dubbed her “Madame Deficit”, this was also shown in the movie. The angry mob was real; they did indeed storm the Bastille, and later the royal palace. There were some parts of the movie that were historically inaccurate. For instance, there was no proof of Marie Antoinette having many lovers, or loved someone else beside Louis. However, there was a Swedish army captain that she was close to. The affair shown in the movie was also not proven, thus making it inaccurate. Marie Antoinette as a historical figure often gave advice or counsel to her husband, Louis XVI, and swayed many of the foreign policy decision in Austria’s favour. In the movie, however, Marie was not shown to give advice to Louis at all. Louis XVI was also shown in the movie as someone who didn’t want sex, like he was afraid of it. In actuality, he had a medical condition that prevented him from having sex because it was painful for him. The physical appearance of Louis XVI was also inaccurate. It was said that he was tall and had put on some weight as he grew older. The movie showed him somewhat short. In my opinion, the movie was satisfactory in showing the life of Marie Antoinette. They did a good job showing how court life was like back then and the repetition of morning rituals. But some parts dragged on for too long and became boring and dull. I think all the actors did a great job with their roles. Kristen Dunst really gave a good impression of how Marie Antoinette was like, and her spending habits. In conclusion, it was a movie that was worth watching even if in some parts it was tedious.