Earlier this month, Sofia Coppola was at the Venice Film Festival to promote her first documentary, Marc by Sofia. The documentary focuses on the creation of Marc Jacobs’ Spring '24 collection and his creative process. The photos of the couple took me back to the early 2000s, when they were often seen together. Because that's how my brain works says Marion Fasel, they also made me think about how she has worn jewelry from then until now.
I'm perfecting a column in Jewelry Iconoclast about the stylish director for Sunday. So I decided to post this article from The Adventurine archives. An article about vintage jewelry in the film Marie Antoinette (2006). Sophia spoke about them at a panel in Venice.
He described that he wanted the sets and costumes to make the audience feel as if the characters were living now. Instead of making them look back on a dusty history. So it reminded me of how some ridiculous critics dismissed her historical riffs as mistakes.
Read below for my review of the jeweled film. It was originally published on The Adventurine in 2016 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the film.
Beautiful palaces, adorable puppies and plenty of precious jewels are part of what makes Marie Antoinette a dreamy modern classic. However, the depiction of life in Versailles in Sophia Coppola's film is not a literal repetition of events. As some short-sighted critics have felt the need to disparagingly point out at the time. The film premiered in cinemas on 20 October 2006.
I mean obviously. It opens with the Gang of Four's hit, “Natural's Not In It”, but also titles in shocking pink and black. Designed by Peter Miles to look like a post-punk album cover.
If the music and credits weren't strong enough clues that this was a variation on the past, the kind of blind casting of actors from many nations playing French roles without trying to imitate an accent should have made critics realize that Coppola was using the historical setting as a metaphor.
The young queen, Louis XV and Louis XVI are all played by Americans. Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman and Rip Torn. English, Australian and Italian actors play other leading roles.
To keep the audience on their toes, there is a cast that is inextricably linked to the events of the story.
Marianne Faithful, whose mother was an Austro-Hungarian baroness, plays Marie Antoinette's mother, Maria Theresa. The Austrian Archduchess and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire of the Habsburg dynasty.
The jewellery designer Victoire de Castellane, who is a descendant of the French aristocracy, was among the extras. There are also the locations. Most of the film was shot in Versailles, where, of course, the action takes place.
The mixing makes the film feel as modern as a period piece. A connection to modern decadence can easily be made in the party scenes. Listen to montages of shopping and a moment with the courtyard hairdresser.
The film does deepen emotionally, as Roger Ebert eloquently wrote. «This is Sophia Coppola's third film focusing on the loneliness of being a woman. And surrounded by a world that knows how to use you. But not how to appreciate and understand you.».
It's a flat film, but to get back to the reason for this post's existence - the jewels are divine.
Source: marionfasel.substack.com
