Marie Antoinette - A chocolate box of visual delight

It may seem a little over the top, but the movie, Marie Antoinette, with Kirsten Dunst, epitomises a chocolate box of visual delight.

The movie focuses on the life of Marie Antoinette as a young queen in the lavishly opulent and eccentric court at Versailles. As she matures from a teenage bride to a young woman, she drowns herself in exquisite pleasure, from food and shoes, to scandals, spending most of her time buying shoes, dresses, jewelry, luxurious pastries, and gambling.

I particularly enjoyed this scene: https://youtu.be/3XiT9hDCsWQ

There is also a beautiful scene where she breaks away to her country retreat, to spend time in nature. The camera focuses on her feeling the warmth of the sun on her face, touching the reeds in the fields, picking flowers, pouring goats milk, and feeling free. She lived a life controlled by her superiors and was waited on hand and foot by her servants, which she clearly did not approve of. She was never ‘free’. So one can imagine the freedom she felt being out in nature, on her own, and being allowed to FEEL and experience taking control of her own life, in those beautiful moments.  

"All eyes will be on you," says the Austrian duchess, Maria Theresa to her youngest daughter Marie Antoinette. And all eyes were on her, as the most misunderstood and abused woman in history, from her birth in Imperial Austria to her later life in France.

The film's soundtrack contains quite a few post-punk bands, such as The Cure, Adam and the Ants, and New Order. Some scenes utilize period music, including Vivaldi and Couperin. It's simply sensational.

The film is aimed at a teen audience, but irrespective of your age, if you’re a lover of colour, food, music, and life’s little delights, you will simply adore this movie for its visual splendour.

As the critics have exclaimed, "Let them eat cake!"