COPPOLA'S `MARIE' PUTS ICING ON THE CAKE.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic `Marie Antoinette'' opens with a wink to the most famous legend surrounding its subject. Kirsten Dunst Kirsten[1] Caroline Dunst (born April 30, 1982) is an American actress, known for her roles in (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination), The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, and Bring It On , playing the teen queen of France, lounges, bored, above it all, on a chaise while a lady in waiting attends to the important matter of her toenails. It's all Marie can do to lift a finger and dig into the whipped cream of one of the pink confections beside her. Let them eat cake, and celebrate self-absorption while we're at it. That isn't how Sofia Coppola, who wrote and directed the movie, views Marie, though, and as her dreamy, languid movie unfolds, we see that Coppola counts the French queen as a fellow traveler, another young woman lost in translation. Virtually imprisoned im·pris·on tr.v. im·pris·oned, im·pris·on·ing, im·pris·ons To put in or as if in prison; confine. [Middle English emprisonen, from Old French emprisoner : en- at Versailles, married to an inattentive in·at·ten·tive adj. Exhibiting a lack of attention; not attentive. in  at·ten husband and surrounded by the impolite im·po·lite adj. Not polite; discourteous. [Latin impol (i.e., the French), the Austrian-born Marie had little choice but to retreat into the pleasures of shopping, pink frosting frosting the slight graying of the haircoat around the face, particularly muzzle, in dogs with aging and as a regular feature of some breeds such as the Belgian shepherd dog. and idle chitchat. Read into that what you will. Coppola has provided a blank slate to give her audience the opportunity to derive modern meaning from her movie (Marie = Paris Hilton), and supporters have been working overtime to find significance in the filmmaker's inscrutability. But really, ``Marie Antoinette'' is simply a movie about the beauty that can be found in blankness. Coppola wants us to empathize em·pa·thize v. To feel empathy in relation to another person. with Marie. Her excesses are barely mentioned, her lack of intelligence translated into a beguiling innocence. When Bow Wow Wow's ``I Want Candy'' is cued (one of many new wave, post-punk songs featured in the film's impeccably anachronistic a·nach·ro·nism n. 1. The representation of someone as existing or something as happening in other than chronological, proper, or historical order. 2. soundtrack), Coppola is telling us we all want a sugar (or caffeine or shopping spree) high, and that we'd indulge, too, if we were hermetically her·met·ic also her·met·i·cal adj. 1. Completely sealed, especially against the escape or entry of air. 2. Impervious to outside interference or influence: sealed and unaware of the suffering around us. Such an attitude makes you long for the arrival of the sharp blade of the guillotine guillotine Instrument for inflicting capital punishment by decapitation. A minimal wooden structure, it supported a heavy blade that, when released, slid down in vertical guides to sever the victim's head. . Coppola is only able to maintain the energy and wit of her vision for about an hour of the movie's two-hour running time. After that, the shots of frosted wigs and creamy desserts become repetitive, and, as Marie matures, becoming queen and mother, Coppola becomes scattered in her presentation. And the occasional news flash from the outside world -- Civil war in Poland! Revolution in America -- seems as silly to us as it must have been vexing to the befuddled Louis XVI (marvelously underplayed by Jason Schwartzman). Coppola may have failed here, but her aesthetic instincts remain strong. The movie is perfectly cast -- the supporting players include a randy Rip Torn as Louis XV, Asia Argento as the old king's mistress and Marianne Faithfull as Marie's grave mother. The palace world is a wonder to behold, even when Coppola's inertia matches that of her heroine's. Can you make a meal out of bonbons? Coppola thinks so. Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672. glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com MARIE ANTOINETTE - Two and one half stars (PG-13: sexual content, partial nudity, innuendo innuendo n. from Latin innuere, "to nod toward." In law it means "an indirect hint." "Innuendo" is used in lawsuits for defamation (libel or slander), usually to show that the party suing was the person about whom the nasty statements were made or why the comments ) Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Rip Torn. Director: Sofia Coppola. Running time: 2 hr. 3 min. Playing: In wide release. In a nutshell: Can you make a meal out of bonbons? Sofia Coppola tries in the beautiful blankness of this story of a young queen lost in translation. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Kirsten Dunst, left, is the teen queen, with Rose Byrne as La Duchesse de Polignac. |
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