Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Marie Antoinette Blu-ray Movie Review

Let them have BD-R!

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 28, 2017

History is the guiding light of the world, the thing by which the present is measured and the future is predicted. It's not a linear reference point, though. It builds on itself, takes on new identities as time moves along, whether by need or by choice or somewhere in the middle. It's a playground for reflection and study and commentary, which is why it's always fascinated Hollywood and yielded countless examples of films that, for whatever purpose and with whatever tone, take a look back at, with varying degrees of accuracy, the world that was. Whether war or Rome or practically any point one can find on the world's timeline, and with any style or reimagining or vision of the way things may have been or probably were, it's history that so often seems the driving force behind the arts. It's with that in mind that one comes to Marie Antoinette, a movie that doesn't exactly promise a straight historical recreation, nor does it deliver one. Instead, it's a curious compilation of classic style and story, filmed on-location, but reworked not necessarily for modern sensibilities but rather to offer a more flamboyant and approachable portrait of an opulent world that was with darkness lingering on the horizon.

It's really not that complicated, people...

Marie Antoinette tells the story of loneliness, spousal dismissal, opulent lifestyle, and fate of the title character (Kirsten Dunst) who, at the young age of 15, was an Austrian Archduchess forced to make the long journey by carriage to France and wed the dauphin, Louis-Auguste (Jason Schwartzman), next in-lie for the throne of France. The young couple struggles in marriage. He's sexually disinterested in her, largely dismissive, and often absent on hunting trips. He's deemed sexually fit by the court's doctors. Yet she bears the brunt of the blame for his unwillingness to do his part in siring another heir to the throne. As she whittles away the days, the royal relationship slowly begins to develop, but so too do the winds of political unrest in France as the people come to despise their queen and set in motion the beginning of her demise.

While the arguments for and against Writer/Director Sofia Coppola's vision and tonal modernization of the Marie Antoinette era will continue, it's clear that, in sum, her stylistic choices and historical alterations in the name of accessibility and relevancy are pretty well spot-on. The picture capably, and lightly, explores not only the many oddities of the French court -- the sheer number of those surrounding her marriage bed, the hierarchy of needless help in the dressing room, the excesses of every feast and party -- but simultaneously sets a very believable stage for the dark times to follow, as revolution against those very excesses begins to take shape, far away from Versailles and hardly noted until the royal couple is notified of the Bastille's fall and the angry crowds suddenly emerge right outside their door. It plays in stark contrast to stuffier period pieces that leave audiences not so much in search of a history lesson but certainly an engaging story. The latter is never a problem here.

In that same light, Coppola's scripted portrayal of the title character is more sympathetic towards her struggles, trials, the blame, the emptiness, finding solace in the sudden easy-come splendor of the court and access to the finest items and lifestyle. But the script isn't just about Antoinette's part in the burgeoning revolution. The movie is more focused on the girl, the human being -- not the queen -- and focuses on the story of loneliness and isolation even in the midst of a never-ending stream of people, either in the dressing room or the dining room. Coppola's Antoinette is a girl in search of her place, almost like she's the new girl in school yearning not for attention but popularity and adulation, or at least some sort of self satisfaction with her position in life. If nothing else, Coppola's vision provides a unique twist on a popular tale, humanizes the face, and dramatizes the story with enough added gusto to set it apart as audiences determine whether Antoinette was a spoiled rich girl blowing through the country's money as her right as queen or an attention-hungry wife yearning to do whatever she must to draw her husband back to her.

The film is a success in casting, too, playing not necessarily to part but rather to tone and spirit. Dunst, most famous for her turn as "Mary Jane" in (some of) the Spider-Man films, is cast here in an entirely different role, style, need of performance to capture a tone not out of the history books, not written in contemporary ink, but somewhere in the middle. She personalizes and invigorates the role, finding that charming "new girl" aura and exploring all the permutations -- anticipation, shyness, eagerness, depression, frivolity, satisfaction, laziness, terror -- with remarkable command of the greater film's take on the story. Supportive performances are excellent, too, notably from Jason Schwartzman as the somewhat shy Louis XVI, Marie's absentee and unwilling-in-bed husband. Production values are wonderful, too, a combination of on-location shooting in Versailles and reimagined opulence.

Marie Antoinette Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

It was bound to happen. Of the previously reviewed Sony "Choice Collection" discs -- Neighbors, Little Women, Not Another Teen Movie, Spanglish -- all have proven rather impressive, ranging from solid to fantastic. Not so with Marie Antoinette. The movie seemed primed for Blu-ray release for about a decade, or most of the format's lifespan. There was official-looking cover art on Blu-ray.com for practically that entire time, but the release never materialized. Fortunately for fans, Sony has seen fit to give it a go on the controversial BD-R release schedule. Unfortunately for fans, the release doesn't even come close to matching the quality of the aforementioned quartet of winning releases under the "Choice Collection" label.

The image appears unremarkable at its very best, the presentation bolstered by the 1080p horsepower behind playback but it's otherwise a far cry from the cinematic excellence of Sony's best, and usual, quality, whether through standard releases or the "Choice Collection" label. It's pasty and processed. The would-be gorgeous presentation by way of the film's opulent costumes and richly realized set pieces -- the film won an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Costume Design -- is nowhere to be found, replaced with a passable at best, dreadful at worst, and usually in-between image that leaves the movie's many textural graces missing in action. Even the most rigid textures, most complex fabrics, most resplendent furnishings favor a flat and pasty veneer over what most certainly could have been a textural wonderland and, done right, a reference Blu-ray. Colors are nearly as disappointing, favoring a dull, slightly washed out appearance that robs them of their true brilliance and punch. Whether, again, resplendent costumes and locations or even the abundance of natural greens on the Versailles grounds, the picture fails to preserve or present the inherent richness with any sort of authenticity. Back levels are drab and flesh tones dull. Some relatively minor, but still bothersome, print issues -- pops, speckles, splotches -- show up from time to time, too. While compression problems are not of any particular concern, the image is at best a lackluster one and easily one of the most disappointing Blu-ray releases in some time, "Choice Collection" or not.

Marie Antoinette Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

At least Marie Antoinette's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack fares a good bit better than its video counterpart. While hardly itself a classic, it's at least capable with only a few flubs along the way. Balance occasionally struggles. Surrounds are sometimes a little too forceful or not engaged enough. Music can be a little stale, too, particularly in the film's opening minutes, lacking definition, separation, and honest clarity. It does open and tighten up a bit as the film progresses and enjoys a more fruitful, balanced, and lifelike presentation. Ambient effect are likewise a little timid in places and explosive in others, literally as a barrage of fireworks pop off in one scene and elsewhere, too, as organ music powerfully engages the stage, dialogue reverberates with authority, and multi-animal and multi-person hunting parties power through the soundstage. Dialogue dominates much of the film, however, and it's pleasantly neutral, grounded in the center save for when positioning allows it to open up, and it's usually well prioritized.

Marie Antoinette Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Marie Antoinette contains two featurettes and two deleted scenes. No top menu is included; supplements must be accessed in-film via the pop-up menu. Though not housed in the extra-wide case that is featured with some of the "Choice Collection" releases, the overall physical presentation still favors that rough-around-the-edges look about it. There appears to be a glitch with these supplements that does not allow the user to fast-forward through them; playback simply hangs until "play" is pressed again, though wait time seems influenced by how long one tried to fast forward. Chapter skipping freezes the disc in the player, requiring power cycling to get out of the supplement, or a chapter skip backwards to allow it to play through all the way by itself again. Quality control was obviously not on the agenda with this release, even with Sony's own gear, in this case a BDP-S700 and a PlayStation 3.

• The Making of Marie Antoinette (480i, 25:58): A slow and steady piece, part interview and part fly-on-the-wall, in which cast and crew discuss the real Antoinette, Sofia Coppola's work, costumes, the ensemble, performances, shooting locations and set design, and the film's visual tone and color palette.
• Second Opera (480i, 2:22): A deleted scene with a detailed text introduction.
• Turn from Petit Trianon (480i, 1:38): Another deleted scene with text introduction.
• Cribs with Louis XVI (480i, 3:59): An MTV Cribs tour of the set.

Marie Antoinette Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Marie Antoinette offers an interesting juxtaposition of classic 18th century stylings with a modern edge, not only in its technical construction but in its mismatched music, too, such as when with Bow Wow Wow's I Want Candy is plopped over a montage depicting Antoinette's excesses that would lead to her country's collapse and her demise (watch for an intentional? anachronism at the 55:54 mark). It's tonally mismatched but kind of intoxicating at the same time. If nothing else, Sofia Coppola brings something new to the table with the movie, a unique vision for a well-known character and point in history, and no matter how well or poorly it may be implemented, there's always something to be said for novelty in cinema. Sony's Blu-ray release seemed a decade in the making, and the result is...disappointing. Seriously underwhelming video (though certainly not the worst the format has ever seen), fair audio, and a few supplement (complete with technical glitches) tossed onto one of the studio's controversial BD-R "Choice Collection" discs yields a seriously disappointing release of a movie that deserves significantly better. So far, though, it's the exception to the rule; "Choice" is off to a decent, if not overpriced, start, but this isn't what fans want. Sad to say, but skip it.