Marie-Antoinette (2006 film)

Marie-Antoinette is a 2006 film written and directed by Sofia Coppola about the life of Marie Antoinette, the beautiful Austrian princess who married into the French royal family in 1770, only to be imprisoned and beheaded when the monarchy was overthrown by a revolution twenty years later.

Related Topics:
2006 - Film - Sofia Coppola - Marie Antoinette - Austrian - 1770

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It is currently at the post-production stage and is (as of September 2005) scheduled to be released in Autumn 2006 though this may change. It is based upon the historical biography by Lady Antonia Fraser, which is a best-selling British book first published in 2001. It is the first full-length biopic of Queen Marie-Antoinette to be made in the English language since the 1938 Oscar-winner starring Hollywood superstars Norma Shearer and Tyrone Power.

Related Topics:
Post-production - Autumn - Antonia Fraser - 2001 - Marie-Antoinette - English language - 1938 - Norma Shearer - Tyrone Power

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The production crew were given unprecedented filming access to the Palace of Versailles, where the real Marie-Antoinette lived from the time of her marriage in 1770 until the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. The movie is expected to take the same sympathetic view of Marie-Antoinette's life as was presented in Lady Fraser's biography, Marie Antoinette: The Journey. An earlier biography of the French queen, written by the Austrian-Jewish author Stefan Zweig in 1933, was rejected by Coppola for inspiration because she believed it was too hostile and unsympathetic to Marie-Antoinette's youth and inexperience.

Related Topics:
Versailles - Marie-Antoinette - 1770 - French Revolution - 1789 - Stefan Zweig - 1933

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Although eyebrows were raised at the casting of young American actress, Kirsten Dunst, in the title role, Dunst has won praise for difficult roles before - including her appearance in Coppola's earlier film The Virgin Suicides and, at an early age, she did perform in a period drama - Little Women, opposite Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder. In a recent interview, Dunst revealed that she felt a powerful sense of empathy with Marie-Antoinette - who was exploited by the ambitious courtiers, who sought to use her position for their own advantage.

Related Topics:
Kirsten Dunst - The Virgin Suicides - Little Women - Susan Sarandon - Winona Ryder

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