Extract from “Treasures of The World The French Kings”, Written by Frederic V. Grunfeld. Select Books, A Division of Time-Life Books, B.V. Amsterdam. Great Britain: 1983.

Marie-Antoinette, a film on the feminine condition In her third movie, Marie-Antoinette Sofia Coppola continues her exploration of the condition of women. She praises femininity and places it at the heart of this condition. From the very beginning of the movie, it appears that this film maker has opted to portray a very feminine Marie-Antoinette, a young woman who has an inner beauty that is revealed by the emotions she shows and by her easy spontaneity and generosity. The teenage girl (played by Kirsten Dunst, an actress who also played in Sofia Coppola’s first movie, Virgin Suicide, which addressed the issues of adolescent girls) arrives in France in April 1770 at the age of fourteen is radiant and full of promise. But instead of inspiring admiration, she is rejected for being Austrian, and later on she is despised for not becoming a mother quickly enough and for having become an extravagant woman. Moreover, the film strongly suggests that she is rejected because of her blooming femininity which provokes jealousy. As Sofia Coppola remarked in an interview promoting the film1, her main interest was the character of Marie- Antoinette, not the historical context. Thus, the film Marie-Antoinette is primarily a reflection on the different ages in a woman’s life. The rock music the film director chose signifies the rebellion of a young lady who is still an adolescent and who experiences many difficulties in achieving the aim her mother assigned her (to be a good wife) and the obligation the French court expects of her (to give birth, and quickly, to a male heir to the throne). The attacks and pressure she experiences are staggering and the devices she resorts to in order to resist them have a very contemporary ring: women (and teenagers) often find solace in music, parties, games, and spending money on clothes to escape the many pressures of daily life. Marie-Antoinette’s innocence is such that it creates a startling contrast with the members of the French royal court who welcome her. She resembles a Jean Jacques Rousseau’s character: as a young foreigner, she is looked at as though she embodies the “bon sauvage” in a state of nature. On her arrival from Austria she is literally stripped of everything she has: a major transformation of her identity is imposed on her when she has to go through a tent in the woods where all her Austrian court clothes are replaced by French ones. The transformation is underlined by a strong contrast between her simple blue Austrian dress and the luxurious French dress and is forced to relinquish her little dog. This contrast is reinforced when she first discovers Versailles. The spectator is invited to discover it with her in a long sequence shot. At first everyone in court is delighted by the presence of such a beautiful princess and everyone scrutinizes her very closely both in order to admire and criticise her, much as they would scrutinize a new object or toy. But all too soon political power and social organisation –which is created by men and organised for men’s benefit– puts her femininity on trial. “Feminine beauty”, which is symbolized in the film, as in a painting, by her carnation, by her elegant bearing suggesting the delicacy of her intentions, is a notion which is quite foreign to the categories of political power. Yet it has everything to do with the transmission of royal power which only needs a mother to give birth to a boy who will inherit the power from his father. One quickly understands that, as a beautiful woman, she will fail to achieve what is expected from her: to give birth to a son. “Beauty” is a cultural notion and it is a source of inspiration for artists. She, as a young woman, does not have to be beautiful to be used as a means of exchange, a way to seal a diplomatic alliance. “Beauty” as a notion is not significant to understand a period of history but it helps to understand why the Queen Marie Antoinette concentrated so much hatred upon herself. At first, because the newly-crowned French king, Louis the XVIth, seems uninspired by her teenage beauty and does not know what to do with it. His seeming incapacity to do his husbandly duty (he cannot sleep in the same bed and runs away every night) inspires curiosity and makes courtiers and others (including her mother, the empress of Austria, who writes her terrible letters about it) think that it is Marie-Antoinette’s fault. Their lack of a sex life provokes nasty pamphlets which imply that the queen is somehow responsible for the impotence of her husband. Her beauty inspires pornographic pamphlets suggesting that she lives a life of debauchery. She does not feel the need to answer to these accusations. Not only can she not become the mother everyone insists that she become, but she is also suspected of draining power from her husband, the King. The scene of the masked ball symbolises a turning point in the sexual life of the royal couple. The masks enable freedom of speech and both the queen and the king find themselves in situations where they can speak about their desires. Marie-Antoinette is seduced by Count Fersen and Louis is told that his wife is very desirable. After the ball, Marie-Antoinette turns into a full-fledged French woman, accepts the ways of the French court and the extraordinary magnificence of Versailles with all the social constraints and all the expenses it implies.