This is the twentieth anniversary of the release of Sofia Coppola’s desperately beautiful and radical retelling of the story of MARIE-ANTOINETTE. We have already been gifted with a lavish and delightful book of on-set stills photos from Andrew Durham. And now we have an equally delightful documentary made by Sofia’s mother - herself the acclaimed film-maker - Eleanor Coppola.
Of course, this is not going to be anything like HEART OF DARKNESS, Eleanor’s iconic on-set doc of her husband’s film APOCALYPSE NOW. Because as tiring and awesome as filming at Versailles was, MARIE-ANTOINETTE was not the drug-induced folie de grandeur that APOCALYPSE NOW was. No. This film comes in on time and on budget and while Sofia clearly has a firm vision of what she wants to achieve - occasionally in opposition to her DP Lance Accord - her manner is quieter, and more delicate.
As Eleanor comments, in journals read by the actress Diane Lane, Sofia is herself a young woman thrust into a high-pressure situation with all of the eyes upon her. No wonder she and her young lead actor Kristen Dunst can both relate. It’s almost shocking how young both of them look and how slight - Sofia particularly - swallowed up in the lavish set and amidst the huge crew. With Eleanor filming between takes there’s no downtime. Kristen is polite but often looks exhausted. Meanwhile Jason Schwartzman plays up to the gallery and Asia Argento reads everybody’s fortune.
The real revelations are not so much about the making of MARIE-ANTOINETTE but about Eleanor. She passed away a couple of years ago and her children finished her film. What I found most touching was hearing and seeing Eleanor’s evident pride and delight in being part of her daughter’s world. But also - and perhaps more importantly - in seeing the evident love snd trust between her children, as Roman arrives to direct the second unit. I also found it bracingly honest but rather melancholy to hear Eleanor compare her own struggle to balance being a young mother with her artistic ambitions. She comments wistfully that the next generation of artists, including her daughter and Kristen, are more boldly following their dreams. It made me wonder how much has really changed. Sofia was one of the few successful female directors twenty years ago and remains so today.
MAKING MARIE ANTOINETTE has a running time of 1hr 26m. It played New York and Telluride and will be released on Mubi on November 6th.
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