For those of you who have seen this movie and the 1938 version of Marie Antoinette. In your opinon who makes a better Marie Antoinette, Norma Shearer or Joely Richardson??
I'm not sure who I liked better Joely Richardson seemed to play more of a "Let Them Eat Cake" kind of Antoinette while Norma Shearer in the '38 version seemed to play it more like she was a very kind person.
"Somehow or other I always got myself rigged up in something sensational."
- Norma Shearer
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Yeah I agree, Kirsten did make a good Marie...
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I liked all three; I had trouble with saying who was better because I thought Joely and Kirsten could have mashed up and created what Antoinette was really like. Joely's performance was almost too smart and snide to be like Marie Antoinette in my opinion.
shareShearer, Shearer, Shearer!!
But really, there's no comparision, because Joely's part was only supporting and was written to show a MUCH diffferent Marie.
I thought Kirsten was quite good, however, but couldn't touch Shearer's performance--but also for the simple fact that the part was written in a more shallow way--Shearer's Marie was much more complex.
Beware the dreamers of the day, for they would enact their dreams with open eyes-Lawrence of Arabia
1.Kirsten Dunst was fine as a very young Dauphine but she failed as the more mature Marie Antoinette. She did not have the attitude or appearance of descriptions of the adult Marie Antoinette--the queen was described by contemporaries as a somewhat tall, graceful woman with a 40 inch bustline in maturity--and with a somewhat haughty attitude.
2.Norma Shearer was adequate and somewhat charming as the young Marie Antoinette but really excelled both as the frivolous mature queen and especially as the devastated but brave queen at her tragic end. Shearer also looked the most like the real Marie Antoinette--she was not plump but she had a normal weight--not like that of the size 0 or size 2 of Dunst or Richardson. Shearer also had some facial resemblance. Her acting was really superb.
3.Joely Richardson was the closest to the historical descriptions of the attitude of the mature Marie Antoinette but she was very thin and so did not quite look the part. Marie Antoinette in her prime was known for her graceful figure and her somewhat haughty, regal attitude and a flippancy with courtiers who were not her favorites--Richardson had this attitude in spades.
Shearer was a little sweeter in attitude overall but recall the scenes where she first meets the Tyrone Power character--she is flippant, vain and arrogant as well. She also is haughty in the scenes where she enters the Ball with the Duc d Orleans. Through most of the film, Shearer is the very embodiment of the main public image of Marie Antoinette--lovely, vain and extravagant. In the tragic scenes before the iconic death, she was particularly affecting and her performance was tearjerking. Shearer ultimately had the most complete portrayal as she played Marie Antoinette throughout her life and thus had more of the different aspects described about the tragic queen. Shearer excelled in acting all aspects of the mature queen's lifestory.
Thank you for your very incisive comparisions of these 3 interpretations of M.A.--just saw Joely again in the role, and your point is well made!
Beware the dreamers of the day, for they would enact their dreams with open eyes-Lawrence of Arabia
Yes, Joely had the height and haughty,occasionally flippant attitude described about Marie Antoinette by contemporaries. She just did not look the most like the queen's portraits because Joely is the wrong weight but she did a very good job with her role,nonetheless.
One of my favorite parts of her portrayal is how she walked past the fake fainting of the Comtess character. This is funny to me as it is very historically correct; according to memoirs at the time, Marie Antoinette ignored people trying to get her attention in this way and also was annoyed when someone she did not know tried to interact with her by accident or on purpose*. Joely played these parts perfectly--as she did when she was refusing communion from the Cardinal or when she was crying with rage and pulling off her jewels after the verdict.
*Unlike the French royals, Marie Antoinette had a more private upbringing in Vienna and did not understand that the French royals encouraged public displays to encourage public affection and respect. For example, the public sometimes encountered the royals walking in the immense gardens at Versailles and Saint Cloud and Marie Antoinette was said to be annoyed if the public crossed her path in this way and was sometimes ungracious. Her husband and his grandfather and other family members were said to be kind to common people who surprised them in this way. Even the supremely haughty founder of Versailles, Louis XIV, was said to aknowledge a member of the public he encountered in his gardens(although he is said to have snobbishly only nodded to common males. He doffed his hat for any woman he met no matter what her station,however).
The large gardens were left open to the public, one could visit Versailles if one was properly dressed and one could watch the Grand Couvert, which was a dinner with all the royal family on display for the public to see. One could also visit the wigs and wardrobe of the king and queen--Marie Antoinette's dresses had two rooms in Versailles. Marie Antoinette was said to hate these intrusions and got to the point that she would only stay a few minutes at the Grand couvert.
Ok, people. I'm going to let you down.
Marie Antoinette never uttered those iconic words. Infact no one is entirely sure who said "Let them eat cake," but I can tell you that it wasn't Marie Antoinette. This flippant phrase about consuming pastry is commonly attributed to the frivolous queen in the days leading up to the French Revolution. Biographers and historians have found no evidence that Marie uttered these words or anything like them.
"Now you're like dissed but also flattered"
Haven't seen the 1938 version, so I have no idea of who Norma Shearer is.
However, Joely Richardson was simply awful as Marie Antoinette. She is a terrible actress, way too serious, cold and unexpressive for the role.
Kirsten Dunst was perfect as Marie Antoinette in the 2006 version: lively, emotional, pretty.
Boycott movies that involve real animal violence! (and their directors too)