“Letting everyone down would be my greatest unhappiness.”
Dearest Marie Antoinette,
I adamantly deny this as a guilty pleasure. Instead I fully embrace Marie Antoinette as a full on pleasure I receive in the comforts of my boudoir: fêtes galantes, gateau, champagne et les bons temps. Most importantly, the shoes. And dresses. Let’s not forget the hair. And Count Fersen. Dear Madame, I’ve written you before, but I’ve not told you about your impact on my psyche and imagination. Well, at least Kirsten Dunst’s presentation.
If I were to ever attempt to describe how I see the world, Marie Antoinette would be one way I view the world, and how music defines my mood and conveys emotion. There’s always a soundtrack and camera man in my imaginary world.
My goodness, if I count up the number of times I’ve watched this movie, well it would be a lot. The movie served as inspiration for the entire year of 2007, and I took many cues from Marie. Partying into debt (credit cards and over-withdrawals), a war of roses (feud among friends), the need to get away and find peace from the courtiers (Waterford), and the eventual revolution (aka the night cops showed up). Maybe the two situations aren’t similar but I did find inspiration in them while searching for meaning. Admittedly, I just finished watching the movie. Again.
Prior to buying Marie Antoinette, I remember being horribly depressed about something. Oh, heh, I remember now. It was Valentines Day, 2007. To cheer myself up, I went and bought this movie, because I loved it when it came out. I also bought a large bar of chocolate. Possibly brownies as well. I was fortunate enough to see the movie in Paris, before it premiered stateside, with the Bastille literally down the street. Just days before our class had toured the cell where Marie was kept in the Conciergerie, and where revolutionaries had her beheaded in Place de la Concorde. The movie ended up defining my interpretation of the rest of that trip. And of course, the year of 2007.
I went to buy it at midnight, driving blurry eyed at the prospect of yet another Valentine’s Day sans un homme. Spent the last $20 I had for that week. And, of course, watched the movie through silent tears. Then I watched it again, and went to bed. I think I woke up the next morning, saying “Fuck it all,” and thus began the summer of love and my delve into experimentation with psychedelics. I wanted to be forgotten and not reminded. Thank you, MA.
Music
The soundtrack is also incredible, and terrifically mood setting. One of my friends described Sofia Coppola’s movies as extended music videos or a film student who’s been given an enormous budget. As Mademoiselle Pink says, so what. Marie Antoinette was a rock star. I’m well aware the movie is just an interpretation, but the queen threw parties, ducked responsibility and had fun. I can certainly identify with that. Because dialogue is sparse in the movie, the music serves to provide back story and define the mood of the moment. More pivotal, than usual, because I think the movie is about the emotions and feelings of la reine.
“Hong Kong Garden” Siouxsie and the Banshees – played at the entrance to the masked ball and has a modern baroque feel with the plucking strings.
“Fools Rush In” Bow Wow Wow – played when MA and her party return from the masked ball, driving back amidst the rising sun. the entire sneaking out scene reminds me of teenagers sneaking out the house. Exactly what it is. Plus, with the meaning of the song she’s thinking about her first encounter with Count Axel von Fersen, who I’ll have you know was also involved in a scandal with Gustav III of Sweden, amidst allegations of homosexual liaisons. This Count has a reputation, indeed.
“What Ever Happened” The Strokes – this was used in much of the promos, along with Ceremony, and the line “I want to be forgotten” sums up the emotions playing through the moment. It plays as she’s in a drawing room with everyone playing cards, thinking of Count Fersen and needs to escape to fantasy. I too want to shuffle-run down a long corridor with a secret smile on my face and fall into a luxuriously soft bed.
“Plainsong” The Cure – just has the feel of coronation. Were I ever to be coroneted, I’d want this song to play afterwards as well and descend down royal blue carpet stairs adorned with silver fleur de lys.
“Ceremony” New Order – played at her 18th birthday party, right after the coronation scene. Subdued yet celebratory. The song sets the perfect carefree setting amidst glowing candelabras, champagne, gambling and revelry. Plus going to see the sunrise afterwards gives contrast to the decadence before, in that both are equally pleasurable.
Those would be my top five songs. Another good one is “Natural’s Not In It” by Gangs of Four. They play this at the intro of the movie and sets the tone for the movie. The problems of leisure and what to do for pleasure. One way the music provides subtle undertones. Another mark is how you can feel the shift in tone after she has her first child and the music takes on a more somber feel, as though waking up the morning after the party and realizing the bills to be paid, the messes to clean and the jobs to be done. I’m speaking of my own life, though I guess hers as well.
Beneath the Crown
There are two scenes that tug at the soul, and demand understanding. One involves the Comtesse de Provence giving birth before Marie. As the dauphine, she must produce an heir to the throne, her sole purpose. She walks back to her chambers, people in the hall hurling insults at her. She walks past her ladies in waiting. Secluding herself in her inner chamber, amid remonstrations from her mother and the ambassador and courtiers, she breaks down.
The other scene is near the end of the movie. When the sans-culottes come for her head, she and other members of the household are huddled in fear and in the dark while le peuple scream for the queen. She goes out onto the balcony, and bows in submission to the crowd, silencing them for a few moments. I nearly cried at that point in the movie. We all know how the story ends. To be at the whim of the public, I do not envy public servants, neither in democracies nor monarchies.
I think the movie goes beyond the parties and extravagances, to give the reason behind the parties. “Am I to be Austrian or the Dauphine of France?” she asks her ambassador, and he replies “You must be both.” Often, I’m faced with choosing sides of being black in a predominately white culture, and being gay in a black community. Which side will I throw my loyalty if I ever had to choose, and often I must choose all sides. Pledging allegiance in choosing sides is a messy business, and how nemeses are born.
Going beyond the extravagance, the movie presents the parties and need for excitement as a means of escape. They were symptoms of a life unfulfilled. Her husband paid little attention to her, indifferent to her wants and needs. Courtiers demanded her presence and attention, unconcerned for her but for their own standing in society. And who can expect teenagers to lead a country when they’ve never known anything outside the palace walls. Brings to mind Buddha and his circumstances.
So, with all the powers vested in me by myself and the Empire of Imagination and the Kingdom of Dreams, I declare Marie Antoinette a guilt-free guilty pleasure. I guess that just makes it a pleasure. She was a martyr in her own right, despite what portraits have been painted of her character. I think she and George W. Bush have much in common.
Signed,
Patrique
Guilty Pleasures Vol. I – Charmed
Guilty Pleasures Vol. II – Disney Songs
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1 response so far ↓
jess // 21 September, 2009 at 12:30 am |
OMG! I LoooooVe this movie/soundtrac too!!
thanks for the pics!!
<3