Marie Antoinette is a ( Post) Modern Revolution

Of all the female characters that populate Sofia Coppolas films, the obvious standin for the director herself is Scarlett Johanssons Charlotte in Lost in Translation. But what if Coppolas true reflection is to be found in a gilded, Versailles mirror instead After all, if you want to fashion a figure of (cinema) royalty, whose lavish and privileged lifestyle was heavily scrutinized and perhaps even stifled by expectation, then Marie Antoinette isnt a bad model. After the nearunanimous adoration for 2003s Lost in Translation, the dismissive reaction to Coppolas 2006 followup, Marie Antoinette, seemed unjust. And just over a decade on, the film appears to be undergoing some serious critical reevaluation. Its now being viewed as a work about shallowness and frivolity, rather than being infected with such traits. Its a highly (post) modern take on an old warhorse of cinema: the historical epic. And while Coppola used the real boudoirs and ballrooms of Versailles as her own largerthanlife doll