jan_neptune Reviews

Marie Antoinette (2006)

Antoinette as seen through Axel Fersen's eyes maybe?

[7/10 · 24 October 2006]

Everyone either loves it or hates it, and I for one, love it! I believe that Kirsten Dunst is pure magic! This is a movie seen through the eyes of someone who really loves Marie Antoinette, not a detractor. And it should be seen and viewed as such. Since it is narrated by her mother, it may be that she is seen as her mother wished her to be seen.

For sure, it is not about a historical event, but rather is a character study. It is like eating cotton candy at the fair! It is all sweetness and light. Nothing of the starving masses...who knows of them anyway as they are just something to do for charity as has been taught so long by the nuns and priests of the church, but in reality, out of sight, out of mind.

I love this movie for that reason. It is a study in the Château Du Versailles and its occupants who bring it to life. Sofia did a great job in giving a glimpse of Antoinette as she appears to those who love and cherish her.

I recommend it highly...it is fun, charming, sweet, and magical! Beautifully photographed and made my day!

Let Them Eat (2006 Video)

A Modern Soap Opera

[8/10 · 24 October 2006]

Remember the Raven's Forever More? Remember Soap Opera's Dark Shadows! Well, this one woman show is reminiscent of both, as Leslie Cottle, writer, director, and actress in deep throaty tones makes us learn of a Love Forever More! Whether obsessed, possessed, or just suffering from too long an infatuation with Zeig's story of Marie Antoinette, our lovely Bella through the most marvelous and wonderful flashbacks ever made in an independent film takes us from her modern day lifestyle to scenes and memories of the last hours of Marie Antoinette caught in her cell, remembering her favorite times with her beloved soul mate, Axel Fersen.

Leslie is a true romantic, as she captures beautifully the tormented final moments of the French Queen's thoughts just before she must ascend to the gallows.

With flickering lights, romantic memories cherished forevermore, Marie Antoinette consoles herself with the thoughts of her beloved as she relies upon his love for her to carry her to her end...then suddenly, she shifts into a modern day young princess who is nurtured by a friend with a casserole dish to get her started on her morning day...Bella then takes us on her journey of a soul who encounters her own private obsession in a mystical experience, realizing the joy of her life in meeting up with her own "self" in a protected and poignant scene...

For an independent film, this is an enchanting look at a woman who believes in her heart that she is really at "one" with the tragic Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette, in a most interesting and beautiful encounter, counsels our young Bella to release her past and look ahead to a beautiful future...

For those who love mystery, romance, and enchantment, this is a film full of tones of Edgar Allen Poe and Zweig's Marie Antoinette that is very well executed. Leslie Cottle is marvelous portraying multiple roles as both Bella and Marie Antoinette! It is a must see for the seekers of truth, and is a thoughtful, provocative film.

I give it 8 stars, as I believe that Leslie must produce a sequel, and is just beginning a great career!

Marie Antoinette (1938)

excellent film!

[1 March 2005]

This movie will probably never be excelled largely because of the casting. I don't believe that anyone will ever find better actors or actresses to portray King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette than Robert Morley and Norma Shearer. The black and white aspect of this great classic film is simply spell binding in its interpretation of the life of the Royal Family. Color will give it a different dimension. The manner in which the conflict of the ensuing mob marching upon the Versailles is well portrayed. I especially like the sense of paranoia and fear that grip the Queen and her entourage. The use of the outside gate is especially endearing to me, reminding me why it is that King Louis XIV created the Château d' Versailles in such a distance from Paris. Unless one knows the history of the Château, nobody can truly appreciate the march of the Faubourgs. Excellent film, and I recommend seeing it before any other on the same subject!