I’ll admit that I was really waiting for this one. It came out some months ago, and I so enjoyed Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides and her relationship with Spike Jonze (who, to my dismay, eventually divorced) that I thought that Marie Antoinette was sure to be a winner. Damn, was I wrong. Sure, the initial reviews weren’t great, but I was willing to overlook them. Especially after I acquired the brilliant soundtrack and watched the trailer multiple times, but I was disappointed that all the "good stuff" was right there in the trailer. When I saw the film it fell completely short. The soundtrack linked the classical sounds of the late 18th century France with contemporary music like Aphex Twins & Bow Wow Wow, and with Sofia Coppola at the helm I hoped to drink this film like a tall, cool glass of fresh originality built around an intriguing story and brilliant soundtrack, but all I got was rain water and soggy lifelessness.

Now don’t get me wrong. I like Dunst, but she sometimes reminds me of the female Keanu Reeves, who I never ever ever forget IS Keanu Reeves and not the embodiement of the role. This film chronicles Antoinette’s life from being handed over to France after being stripped away of all belongings (except a nude, not-so-invisble thong over her near anorexic body) to the exile from Versailles at the heighth of the French Revolution. Coppola seemed to attempt to convey the language of the film through imagery, and it is with that goal she fell short. This is NOT Lost in Translation, but it felt like she attempted a period piece along that same vein. Although I would enjoy seeing her attack more period pieces, a talent that can only grow with time and travesty. As for the language of imagery in the film. My god, give me some lines! Some dialogue! Tell your audience what’s going on. Shakespeare in Love not only told the neophyte Shakespeareans what was happening, but it was also smart enough for Elizabethan scholars. Marie Antoinette expects you to know everything there is to know about the life and times of Marie Antoinette and offers nothing to you in terms of plot. It just moves forward as if her audience all just finished reliving all events in 1790s France.This doesn’t work for me.

What does work for me is the Costume Design. Milena Canonero has a long line of nominations behind her starting with Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, Chariot’s of Fire, and Out of Africa. It has been a while since Canonero has won, and she’s due again. In a category as mish-mashed as the structure of this film, Canonero is sure to shine on Oscar night.