Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

dalydj-918-255175 "Farewell, My Queen another story about Marie-Antoinette this time with a great performance by Diane Kruger as the women herself"Marie-Antoinette is one of the most hated women in all history and once again she appears on the screen. This film tells the story of Sidonie Laborde (Léa Seydoux) a book reader to the queen of France Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger), over the course of three days we see into the running of the palace and how the royals hold complete power until the Bastillle is hit by the rebellion of the time. During these days we see love, loss and trying to please those who are above you by doing anything you can even sacrificing your life for your queen.Benoît Jacquot is the director behind this film and his direction is well suited to this almost claustrophobic area that is the kingdom of France in 1789 as these royals were hated by the people of France. The story at first seems very simple but as we get to know Sidonie more and see that she does not want to say anything offensive causing her to do things for the queen no normal women in her job would have to do. The costumes and sets are very well suited to the time period and they way they move also is great to see that the crew behind the film took to time and effort that goes into a period piece like this.Léa Seydoux plays the main women of this tale and she gives a fine performance but she is not allowed to emote which is what the character had to do because she was a lower class worker and that is why even though she is in almost every scene she does not get to stand out as others, also she mostly comforts people feeling pain. Diane Kruger in her short screen time for her entrance to departure owns the screen in part due to the role she plays because it is Marie-Antoinette. There is one scene when she gets to finally show her emotions when they all boil up when she says goodbye to her lover for good. In her final scene we see the true villainies of Marie as she sacrifices her book reader in order to save her lover which is something a normal nice women would do but an evil one would do it.The film overall as some great production displayed mainly in it'costume but the fact the main character is not interesting is a major problem with the film but it is made better every time Diane is one the screen making the film the better to watch.MOVIE GRADE: C (MVP: Diane Kruger)

BKTrayner I enjoyed this movie specifically because it dealt with the first few days (only) of the French Revolution -- no need to watch people being beheaded. I thought is was a realistic and interesting portrayal of Marie Antoinette because it didn't attempt to make her sympathetic or to cast her as a misunderstood, crypto-feminist. Too many books these days attempt to do that where, lets face it, she was eating cake while millions starved. The French monarchs got exactly what they deserved.I enjoyed this move because I could follow the dialog since it was with subtitled. I don't know why it is, but all movies involving the French aristocracy in the 18th century has the characters chattering at a rapid rate. This must be because pictures from that period make you think that's how someone dressed up like that would talk. But I am sure that lots of people in those days spoke slowly and deliberately. Further, I don't understand why the latest fad in movie scripts is unintelligible dialog mumbled. At any rate, these characters spoke in the usual staccato, but since there were subtitles I got every word.There is a lot of dramatic tension in this film because of the angst of the characters left in the dark as the Old Regime crumbles. If you know anything about the period, you know what the main characters will do, but for the rest ... who knows? People who have criticized this film for not providing background or context should consider that this is a French movie aimed at French people. I don't think we would need much context if a movie started out with people in colonial garb and a big sign that said, "This way to Bunker Hill." Now to the spoiler, and my puzzlement leaving the movie. At the end, the heroine is dressed up as a noble woman (who is the lesbian lover of Marie Antoinette) and the noble woman is dressed as the servant. The idea is that they will take a carriage to escape France, and if they are stopped the servant-heroine will die. The carriage is stopped, and after a long minute of having her papers examined our heroine is motioned to go on to safety.No one has commented on this, but I'm wondering: the officer who examines the papers must know who she is. He must be someone who we have seen earlier in the film at Versailles. It would make no sense any other way since she is dressed up as public enemy #1 and there is an angry crowd in the background. Who was the soldier? One of the problems with this movie is that it is hard to keep track of who's who, and it is a directing mistake (assuming I'm correct) to fail to make us aware of the identity of the soldier. (Were I the director, I would solve this by dressing him in WWII uniform, but I guess that's why I'm not a director.)Next spoiler. Other viewers have focused on the lesbian relationship, and they question the authenticity of our heroine being so devoted to the Queen who is a self-absorbed airhead. My question: when the queen tells the heroine about her great love, you get the distinct impression that the heroine believes Marie Antoinette is about to name her. Earlier in the film, we see the queen essentially fondling her. Is our heroine supposed to be a closet lesbian? If so, this explains why she is so devoted to the queen and also why she agrees to put on the dress that makes her a target for the mob.

Doha Film For the next few years, it must be assumed that any film featuring a popular uprising will attract lazy comparisons to the Arab Spring. The wild waters of revolution run swift in Benoit Jacquot's "Farewell, My Queen", set in the days of July, 1789. Over a wet week in France, starving Parisians storm the symbol of state tyranny, the Bastille, seizing guns and ammunition. Protesters issue a list of demands, calling for the beheadings of nearly 300 influential figures. The de facto signs of regime change are everywhere. Dead rats float in the Grand Canal in Versaille; mosquitoes terrorize the members of the Royal household. Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger), the Queen of France, however, has escapism on her mind – she sits in bed, skim-reading the latest fashion pages.In this task, she is aided by a number of ladies-in-waiting and her reader, Sidonie Laborde (Lea Seydoux). The young woman is called to run to the palace library and return with books and plays she reads aloud to the queen. We learn she is a member of the queen's inner circle and somewhat infatuated with her employer. She performs her duties with a mixture of fear, envy and respect. When the stench of revolution is impossible to ignore, she is told she will be guided to safety. Understandably, she feels more than a little betrayed when the queen orders her to impersonate a fleeing aristocrat, Gabrielle de Polignac, who will accompany her, dressed as a servant. If she is captured, Laborde risks death, while Polignac will abscond to safety.This could all be familiar territory – Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" (2006) took a distinctly sweet-toothed approach to the French Revolution, imprisoning Kirsten Dunst behind tiers of artisan cakes. In Coppola's film, the French royals behaved like party-goers on an episode of MTV's "My Super Sweet 16". "Farewell, My Queen", which is based on a novel by Chantal Thomas, isn't confection of the same variety. This dimly lit and low budget film marks the end of the fantasy world of Versailles, its gilded halls, jeweled furniture and costumed courtiers. The Royal staff bow and curtsy at every available opportunity – in their spare time, they trade gossip about the private indiscretions of their employers and idly speculate the future of post-revolutionary France.Unfortunately, the inner workings of the court of Versailles simply aren't any match for the layered politics that define teenage life on "My Super Sweet 16". While Coppola's film was candy floss masquerading as history, "Farewell, My Queen" succeeds in laboring every aspect of daily life at the Royal court. We are told, time and time again, there lurks intrigue behind every palace wall – most of it remains frustratingly off screen. At one point, I found myself thinking Laborde's chores were no different from the experiences of any gap year student – and considerably less hedonistic.The end, when it arrives, is all too predictable. As members of the royal household are attacked on the streets of Paris, the occupants of Versaille decide to flee. As the royals leave for the last time, their carriages bursting with furniture and jewels, the staff is told "the King will now check the temperature of the throne room". Ice-cold, I would imagine. Not unlike Jacquot's French revolution.

chaz-28 The French Revolution kicked off in 1789, not too long after America's ended. Fortunately for King George III, he lived in London and not Philadelphia or Boston. King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were not so lucky; their revolution sprouted on their doorstep. The four days which Farewell, My Queen covers, 14-17 July 1789, were dark days indeed for the French monarchy and their noble hangers-on. Nobody leaves Versailles because it is too dangerous, the Bastille is stormed, and there are pamphlets floating around Paris of 286 named individuals whose heads the revolutionaries wish to chop off. The number one name on that pamphlet is Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger).Unlike Sophia Coppola's 2006 version of this story, Marie is not as young as she once was. She misses her youth but appears to have found company with the Duchess Gabrielle de Polignac (Virginie Ledoyen). Scandalous rumors circulate not only throughout the palace of the extent of their liaisons, but also through the rest of France. Many believe the Duchess is just as responsible for the people's miserable state of affairs as are the King and Queen. In fact, her name is number three on the guillotine wishlist. However, both of these ladies are merely supporting characters in Benoit Jacqot's version; their story is told through the eyes and ears of the queen's loyal reader, Sidonie Laborde (Lea Seydoux). Sidonie is at the queen's beck and call whenever she feels in the mood for a play or a novel to be read to her. She does not have a more devoted subject; Sidonie absolutely worships the queen is all she does or could do. The queen recognizes the true adoration in Sidonie's eyes and so employs her as a sort of sounding board and confidant; not to the extent of Duchess de Polignac's level of intimacy, but nonetheless, Sidonie is one of the closest servants to the queen. The other palace servants take note of this and Sidonie appears to be among the more higher-ranking servants. Even downstairs in the servant's quarters there is a caste system of hierarchy and rank. Because Sidonie is extremely well read and discreet on top of it, she is quite the capable spy who can ferret out closely held information when events start to pick up the pace outside the palace walls. Sidonie knows which servants to press for info, whose palms need greasing, and in which particular dark corner of the room to stand to eavesdrop on conversations to acquire the most up to date gossip on how the queen is feeling, who woke the King up in the middle of the night, and how close the revolutionaries are getting to the outside walls.Unfortunately, what sounds like deep palace intrigue and an interesting history lesson in the French Revolution mostly lands with a thud on screen. Marie Antoinette is seen a few times and the Duchess hardly at all. A movie which spends a lot of time discussing the truth and falsehoods of their relationship only puts them in the same room together once. Sidonie holds your interest as she scurries back and forth trying to please the queen but her limited view of the action also limits the audience's view. As the situation becomes more pressing and hectic, the camera almost latches on to the back of Sidonie's neck as she runs down the long, slick hallways of Versailles. Towards the end, the camera work was becoming a bit distracting. One should not notice the camera's movements too much but after another jerky movement to the right and back left or another awkward close-up, I wished they would just place the camera on a tripod and let it be. What the cinematographer may have thought was innovative and eye- catching was more irritating and a case of needless showboating.The art and costume directors must have had a field day though. Any film set in 1789 Versailles probably has these types of creative personnel lined up down the block raising their hands to get a shot at it. While Farewell, My Queen works on an aesthetic level to produce a great looking period piece (minus the camera), this film is only for the Francophile. Those who relish any story of Marie Antoinette will probably love this movie no matter what. There is a lot of name dropping and whoever remembers their pre-Napoleon French history class from college may smile and nod as name after name is casually mentioned in conversation. For those who are a bit more discerning in their historical fiction though, you will not take very much away from this film you do not already know. Go enjoy some French wine instead or pick up a copy of A Tale of Two Cities to quench your French Revolution itch.