French magazine Telerama recently ran an article revealing a lot of information on Sofia Coppola's next film about the one and only French Queen Marie-Antoinette (played by Kirsten Dunst).
First up the film will be a stylized telling of the queen's life, and not a "historically accurate" film. For the most part its based on Antonia Fraser's biography of the queen, Fraser is Harold Pinter's wife and a specialist in historical biographies. Coppola was first put onto the Stefan Zweig biography about the relationship between Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette but considered it "too severe".
"I've always loved the story of Marie-Antoinette and the decadence of Versailles on the brink of revolution, and the fact she was just a teenager when circumstances forced her to play a significant role in history. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were lost children in a crazy world... Marie-Antoinette was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time" said Coppola to the publication.
In the film, the character of Comtesse du Barry (Asia Argento) is a bitch and her bed scenes with Louis XV (Rip Torn) are "quite rock'n roll". Coppola cites films such as John Schlesinger's "Darling" and Terence Malick's "Badlands" as serving as inspiration for what she wants to do with this film. Alongside Dunst, Argento, Torn and Jason Schwartzman are such acting luminaries as Judy Davis, Steve Coogan, Marianne Faithful, Shirley Henderson, Molly Shannon and Aurore Clement.
Thanks to 'Antoine'.
