Sunday, October 29, 2006

Marie Antoinette

Previews can get me into the theater for films I probably wouldn't have even known existed. The first trailer for this movie gave me the following information: Kirsten Dunst, Sofia Coppola, punk rock and 1770s France... what a combination. Coppola made "The Virgin Suicides" and "Lost in Translation", two very different films, and now with "Marie Antionette" she has made something else completely different. The film doesn't have a very good story, more or less it just follows Marie. She leaves Austria to marry the French crown prince, and her life as she deals with adjusting to foriegn customs in the spotlight. I like that in a film entitled "Marie Antionette", Marie Antionette was the focus, the center of the whole film. Other characters came and went, events unfolded, but we were watching Marie. I also liked the richness of the film. Lush landscapes, vibrant colors, deep and layered interior shots. Sofia has her father's eye for detail. I don't believe that she has found a great story to tell, or a cause to stand up for, but she gives us something unique and interesting.

I read that Darren Aronofsky was at one point lined up to direct the next Batman movie (which Christopher Nolan recently made "Batman Begins"). The basic premise of the movie was going to have a bankrupt Bruce Wayne and a homeless Alfred, Wayne donning a makeshift Bat-suit and becoming a brutal vigilante. Now I enjoyed "Batman Begins" and it had enough of an original perspective on Batman to entertain, but when will we stop putting up with Hollywood's cookie-cutter approach to pumping out movies? Maybe the should let Sofia Coppola direct the next Batman. Could she find beauty in Gotham? Is there more to the women in Batman's life than screaming on cue? If Alfred is Batman's father-figure, where is his mother? I know it'll never happen, but it's nice to think about the possibilities.

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