Guys, I really wanted to love Farewell, My Queen, and it was beautiful and everything, especially the ladies and the clothes, but mostly I was kind of bored.
The film tells the story of the last days of Marie Antoinette through the eyes of her reader, which is a neat way of structuring a film because it creates a tension between her highly limited information as a servant and the historical information we have as an audience. It’s based on a novel, apparently, which I have not read, but as is often true when I don’t get quite what I want out of a film I am now curious about the book.
Here are five things I thought about while watching Farewell, My Queen:
1) The original casting. I read that Eva Green had been cast as Marie Antoinette, but she left the project to do Dark Shadows instead. This was probably a mistake. I spent a lot of time thinking about the spin she could have put on the role, particularly considering her work in The Dreamers and Cracks. This is not at all a knock against Diane Kruger who was great. Just, Green would have been very different.
2) Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. For whatever reason (probably just a deep personal failing on my part) I only just saw this film about six months ago. I loved it, and deeply regretted not seeing it in the theater. I’m hoping SIFF does a Sofia Coppola tribute sooner rather than later & I’ll get another chance to see it properly.
3) Inglourious Basterds. Diane Kruger gives a lovely performance as Marie Antoinette, but mostly I just wanted to go home and watch her fierce turn as Bridget von Hammersmark.
4) 8 Women. I know Virginie Ledoyen has been working consistently since this film, but every time I see her I think of her as the young, perhaps not-so-innocent daughter in 8 Women. I remember it as a campy & ridiculous murder mystery full of awesome ladies, and watching her as Gabrielle, the object of the Queen’s affections, very attuned to the workings of the court, I thought it might be fun to revisit. It is a virtual who’s who of awesome French actresses.
5) Léa Seydoux. She’s the star of this film, as Sidonie, the reader captivated by the Queen, & I am enjoying that she is suddenly everywhere. She’s reportedly starring in a Beauty & the Beast film next year, opposite Vincent Cassel as the Beast, and if you don’t think I’m excited about that. Well. Perhaps we have not yet been properly introduced.
wicked jaws 