Marie Antoinette (2006 film)

Marie Antoinette is a 2006 historical drama film, written and directed by Sofia Coppola. It is based on the life of the Queen in the years leading up to the French Revolution. It won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. It was released in the United States on October 20, 2006, by Columbia Pictures.

Plot

Fourteen-year-old Maria Antonia Josephina Johanna Habsburg (Kirsten Dunst) is the beautiful, charming, and naive archduchess of Austria, youngest of Empress Maria Theresa's (Marianne Faithfull) daughters. In 1770, the only one left unmarried among her sisters, she is sent by her mother to marry the Dauphin of France, the future Louis XVI of France (Jason Schwartzman), to seal an alliance between the two rival countries. Marie Antoinette travels to France, relinquishing all connections with her home country, including her pet Pug "Mops", and meets the King Louis XV of France (Rip Torn) and her future husband, Louis Auguste. The two arrive at the Palace of Versailles, which was built by the King's great-grandfather. They are married at once, and are encouraged to produce an heir to the throne as soon as possible; but the next day it is reported to the king that "nothing happened" on the wedding night.

Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette (/ˈmæriˌæntwəˈnɛt/, /ˌɑ̃ːntwə-/, /ˌɑ̃ːtwə-/, US /məˈriː-/;French: [maʁi ɑ̃twanɛt]; born Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen (2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793), an Archduchess of Austria, was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Empress Maria Theresa.

In April 1770, upon her marriage (at the age of 14 years and 5 months) to Louis-Auguste, heir to the throne of France, she became Dauphine of France. On 10 May 1774, when her husband ascended the throne as Louis XVI, upon the death of his grandfather Louis XV, she became Queen of France and Navarre, title she held until September 1791, when, at that time of the French Revolution, she became Queen of the French, a title she held until 21 September 1792.

After eight years of marriage, Marie Antoinette gave birth to a daughter, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, the first of her four children. Despite her initial popularity, a growing number of the population eventually came to dislike her, accusing L'Autrichienne, "the Austrian woman" (a nickname given her upon her arrival to France by Louis XV's daughters, Mesdames de France), of being profligate, promiscuous, and of harbouring sympathies for France's enemies, particularly her native Austria. The Diamond Necklace affair damaged her reputation further. During the Revolution, she became known as Madame Déficit because the country's financial crisis was blamed on her lavish spending and her opposition to the social and financial reforms of Turgot and Necker.

Marie Antoinette (disambiguation)

Marie Antoinette (1755–1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France.

Marie Antoinette may also refer to:

People

Entertainment

Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman

Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman (German: Marie Antoinette. Bildnis eines mittleren Charakters) is a 1932 biography of the French queen Marie Antoinette by Austrian writer Stefan Zweig.

The Viking Press published the first English-language edition, translated by Eden and Cedar Paul, in 1933. The book was the basis for the 1938 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, Marie Antoinette, starring Norma Shearer.

See also

References

List of The Rose of Versailles characters

This is a list of characters from The Rose of Versailles, a shōjo manga/anime created by Riyoko Ikeda which centers on the main character, Oscar François de Jarjayes. Most of the characters are based on French historical personages, such as Marie Antoinette and Madame du Barry.

Main characters

Oscar François de Jarjayes

Oscar François de Jarjayes (オスカル・フランソワ・ド・ジャルジェ, Osukaru Furansowa do Jaruje) is a beautiful woman who was raised as a boy by her father. She is educated in such diverse arts as fencing. Eventually, she commands the Imperial Guard of Queen Marie Antoinette. She has no reason to pretend to be a man because most of those at Versailles know that she is a woman. Oscar falls in love with Hans Axel von Fersen, a Swedish count. But Fersen has eyes for the queen only, and treats Oscar like a friend without knowing her true feelings for him. When the revolution begins, André tells Oscar that he loves her, and she realizes that she loves him too.

Marie Antoinette (musical)

Marie Antoinette is a stage musical with music by Sylvester Levay and lyrics by Michael Kunze, the authors of Elisabeth, Mozart! and Rebecca. The Libretto was written in English and then translated into Japanese. The premiere took place on November 1, 2006 in Tokyo, Japan at the Imperial Garden Theater. Tamiya Kuriyama directed the original production. After running in Tokyo, the show was performed in Fukuoka, Osaka before moving back to Tokyo from April 2007 through May 2007.

The German premiere took place on January 30, 2009 at the Musical Theater Bremen with Kuriyama directing once again.

Plot synopsis

Marie Antoinette tells the story of two parallel lives; that of the infamous Queen of France and that of Margrid Arnaud, a poor woman. Both are the same age, and both are pretty, but that's where the similarities end. While Margrid is roaming the streets of Paris in rags, Marie Antoinette dances and flirts at the Palais-Royal. The French Revolution changes all that. Margrid Arnaud rises and Marie Antoinette falls, and when the two women eventually meet two worlds collide and the drama unfolds. The musical uses the events of the French Revolution as a spectacular backdrop to the fate of the unhappy Queen. Margrid Arnaud personifies the nemesis of the monarchy, eventually leading to the extinction of Marie Antoinette and her world.