This is almost as good as Dracula. An absolute miracle that it only cost $40 million. Doesn’t quite have the manic energy of Barry Lyndon, but DP Lance Acord (who also did Lost in Translation) and Coppola give Alcott and Kubrick a run for their money.

It’s probably foolish to keep comparing her work to her father’s, but (Sofia) Coppola has definitely hit upon something similar to what (Francis Ford) Coppola did with the first two Godfathers. Just like with the Italian mafia in those films, we get to revel in the glorious excess of the French aristocracy until it all comes crashing down. Given that that’s all packed into two hours instead of The Godfather’s six and a half, there’s definitely more time given to the excess rather than the downfall, but the perfectly paced finale makes up for that imbalance. The king and queen are indeed sympathetic characters—the movie has a complicated morality. But that’s the sort of thing I love!

Note: In researching the blu-ray releases of Marie Antoinette, I found out that the only US release is a terrible BD-R that came out in 2016. In addition, I presume all streaming services in North America use the same transfer. So I looked around for another release and eventually snatched one up from Amazon France. Even though it’s a bit older, the quality of it is astounding, maybe even reference quality. Grain structure completely intact, vibrant color, no artifacts, etc, etc. Unfortunately the French subtitles are burned in, but they aren’t distracting. So if you happen to be one of the odd folks who obsesses over this stuff like I do, seek the French release out.

Rating: 5/5

Edit:
Given an unlimited budget (and any topic at all), I would pick almost exactly this soundtrack. The Cure, Aphex Twin, New Order...