“Versailles in July 1789. There’s growing disquiet at the court of King Louis XVI: the people are defiant and the country is on the brink of revolution. Behind the scenes at the royal palaces emergency plans are being made. Although nobody believes that this spells the end of the established order everyone is talking of escape, including Queen Marie Antoinette and her entourage. One of Marie Antoinette’s ladies-in-waiting is Sidonie Laborde who, as the Queen’s reader, is a member of the monarch’s inner circle. Concerned that her escape might fail, the queen gives instructions for the girl to step into her carriage dressed in the queen’s clothes while the queen herself is to escape from the palace unseen at night. At first Sidonie is proud to have such an honour bestowed upon her – but she soon realises that her mistress’ request has nothing to do with her affection for her.
Based on Chantal Thomas’ award-winning novel of the same name, Benoït Jacquot’s film portrays the early days of the French Revolution as seen through the eyes of the servants at Versailles. An historical drama with ironic overtones that also draws parallels to the present.”France/Spain 2011; 100 min; French; director: Benoït Jacquot; cast: Léa Seydoux, Diane Kruger, Virginie Ledoyen, Xavier Beauvois, Noemie Lvovsky.
(Source: 62. Berlinale, Internationale Filmfestspiele, Berlin 09.-19.02.12, official website)
Continuing into the endless and fascinating topic of Marie-Antoinette, the new motion picture Les Adieux à la Reine (Farewell my Queen / Leb wohl, meine Königin!) debuted in the Open Ceremony (film d’ouverture) of the 62nd Berlinale International Film Festival at Berlinale Palast venue (Berlin, Germany), on February 9, 2012, as part of the official selection.
Diane Kruger (graciously pictured above), a very beautiful and talented actress that I admire and love by far, is in the role of the Queen Marie-Antoinette of France and Navarre. In my opinion, magnificent is the fact that Diane has been casted to roleplay such important character! Moreover, I highlight an interesting information: Marie-Antoinette was born in Vienna, Austria (November 2, 1755), the ancient capital of the Holy Roman Empire (which covered the territory of modern Germany) and Diane Kruger was born in Algermissen, near Hildesheim, Germany (July 15, 1976). So, in Les Adieux… there’s a beautiful German actress interpreting a wonderful German queen.
A new movie concerning Marie-Antoinette’s history always will be a challenge to be conceived. We shall never forget that Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette is a deep mark in occidental cinematography. A brilliant and an emblematic masterpiece that I’ll keep on my mind forever. I know I’m a “little bit” partial on asserting it because I’m truly passionate by Kirsten Dunst and by Marie-Antoinette’s person and life…
Movies that deal with historical figures often suffer negative criticism with regard to possible innacuracies with History. I believe that we should not worry about it, after all, such movies need not to be a documentary… For anyone interested in the biography of Marie-Antoinette, I strongly recommend reading Antonia Fraser’s Marie Antoinette: The Journey (the main source that inspired Coppola’s Marie Antoinette). This brilliant book has a readable and very accurate, well referenced and deeply backgrounded historical material. By the way, Marie-Antoinette’s biographies has been writen since her execution in Paris (October 16, 1793 – 12h15min local time), but there are many that are of questionable value.
Personally speaking, I really don’t care about the opinions of movies critics. As a rule, the best films that I had the pleasure to watch weren’t blockbusters nor references amongst general audiences and, nowadays, my favorites motion pictures usually have either European production, co-production or support background…
Awards of the 62nd Berlinale International Film Festival relationship (PDF file).
Informations about release dates to Les Adieux à la Reine, please check it out the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) as a sugestion info source. Watch the trailers below (available in HD):
À très bientôt!
F.
