February 15th Log

MARIE ANTOINETTE
2006, Sofia Coppola, United States / France / Japan
Repeat Viewing, DVD

This film was released on DVD this week and I had to see it again (now the 4th viewing). To me it is the BEST American film released in 2006. Sofia Coppola’s third film is a masterpiece. A film that captures transcendent feeling through its beautifully expressed images and sounds. Marie Antoinette is the work an artist… or more specifically the work of an auteur! Coppola previous two features left me with mixed feelings, but seeing this again (and again and again) actually gives me a greater understanding of what she was expressing with her previous work. Only here, Coppola evokes the spirit of a visionary. Coppola uses Marie Antoinette almost more as a reflection of her own expression as a dreamlike world of being entrapped into an unfamiliar environment of loneliness, and the longing for a young woman’s freedom and possessions (as well as rebellion). There is so much I love about this film, but above all it creates a feeling through its detailed imagery and sounds. The opening and closing shots a touch of genius as they work as an expressive extension of the film. SEE THIS FILM… TURN IT UP LOUD AND LET THE CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE TAKE YOU AWAY!!!