Review: "Farewell My Queen"

An abridged version of this review originally appeared in my column at Towleroad 

There are numerous reasons why the Marie Antoinette story has fascinated artists and storytellers for centuries now. From the Court's commitment to theatrical flamboyance with a blind eye to the consequent suffering of the masses (modern pop culture echos were seen as recently as The Hunger Games this spring), to the complexity of the Queen's intimate lonely gilded cage tragedy played against the backdrop of a vast messy violent history. One could argue that the now mythic story is super relevant all over again in this era of rampant socioeconomic injustice and the angry gap between the 1 and 99%. 

Benoît Jacquot clues you in early that he means to tell the famous story differently in the just released French import  Farewell My Queen. For one, it's told "backstage" through the stressful lives of the servants. Consider it the French Revolution: Downton Abbey Edition... without Maggie Smith or the jokes.

The German actress Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) plays the troubled big-spending transplanted queen, Léa Seydoux (Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol), the film's actual lead, is her bosomy devoted servant Madame Laborde, and Virginia Ledoyen (8 Women) is the Queen's Object of Affection, the Duchess de Polignac. The French people were so unhappy with this rumored affair that the ostensibly powerless Duchess was fairly high on the list of the 286 heads demanded for the guillotine! [More...]

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Complete the Sentences. My Favorite French....

My favorite French movie is _________________ because ___________________ .  My favorite French actress is _____________ and she should _________________ .

You know what to do in the comments!

France is on my brain for five reasons today.

1. It's Bastille Day! Happy Bastille Day.

Tweet of the Day

2. The Tour de France is on

3. I saw Farewell My Queen (just opening in select cities) last night and it was happily excellent with a surprisingly strong lead performance from Léa Seydoux (Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Midnight in Paris) as a favored servant of the infamous Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger, also compelling). Here's my review. Go see it if it's in your city.

NOT your average fussy costume drama

4. Speaking of ladies of Versailles, the very buzzy documentary Queen of Versailles opens next week and I hear it's a must see though I haven't musted myself all the way to any screenings yet. [Please to note: "Queen of Versailles" in this case is aspirational and takes place in Orlando, Florida]

5. France is often on my mind because they produce at least one irreplaceable movie star queen a decade (Moreau, Adjani, Huppert, Deneuve, Binoche, etcetera) and usually a dozen other amazing ladies-in-waiting, too. Vive la France!

My tweet conversations last night after seeing the movie with Will, Joe, and Andrew ... (why aren't you following me? us?)

NOW... March toward the comments and stage your own revolution for a favorite film and actress before someone gets beheaded.

Eye Candy: Slave Boys, Female Heroes, Werewolf Routines

The Week in Eye Candy. You deserve it. It's almost the weekend. Soak up the color, the bods, the glamour. Enjoy the diva and the doodles. There's something for everyone unless you're so niche you're impossible to please in which case scroll quickly away (try puzzles or trailers or Oscar buzz)

Jamie the Slave Boy

The Eagle hit DVD (well apart from Netflix which is on a epically annoying month-delay now). Director, Please thinks the whole movie makes no sense on account of why would Channing Tatum spare slave boy Jamie Bell's life...unless there was lust involved. Well, yes. Fair point. But does audience lust count?

Lea Seydoux's Breasts 

She didn't get to roll on the floor or handle fire arms in Midnight in Paris (note that old vinyl records don't pack a punch) but she gets to do just that in the Mission: Impossible -Ghost Protocol trailer. Her girls look even better in action... 

Jude Law, Lady Gaga and more after the jump

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Yes, No, Maybe So: "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"

The titles within this franchise always surprise with the punctuation. This one opts for one colon and a dash. A dash, huh? It must feel the need, the need for speed. This is the first time they've used a dash unless you prefer your Mission: Impossible 2 in its funkier weirdly abbreviated decapitalized M:i-2 format. Anyway.... the point is that Tom Cruise is back as agent Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol or M:I-GP Vol. 4 if you'd like to complicate it. Let's accept the mission to break down the trailer with our Yes, No, Maybe So protocol.

Tom Cruise Does His Own Stunt Running

YES You wouldn't know it from the trailer which focuses on reminding you of the stunttacular nature of this franchise and the familiar but arguably still special effect of Tom Cruise running-jumping-glaring (say what you will about Tom Cruise -- and we all have -- but there are few movie stars as committed/believable in action sequences) but Brad Bird directed this. BRAD BIRD. If it has the teensiest sliver of The Iron Giant's humanity and if the action scenes are anywhere close to as good as the ones in The Incredibles, it's going to be straight up awesome. The big question is: can Brad Bird work directing wonders with flesh & blood actors the way he can with animators?

NO -Did we really need a fourth picture? My biggest beef with this franchise, continued here with the title card insistence that only Tom Cruise is starring in the picture, is that the Mission: Impossible series would be so much better if it were more team-oriented. Ethan pulls too much focus and the team maneuvering and chemistry is the real spark it needs to generate fireworks.

Mission: Impossible - Team 4: Pegg, Renner, Cruise and Patton

MAYBE SO -On the other hand, even if they aren't given enough to do the cast is exciting: Simon Pegg, the always welcome until he gets too ubiquitous (any second now) Jeremy Renner, Josh Holloway, Michael Nykqvist, Paula Patton, Lea Seydoux, and Tom Wilkinson doing what he does best (that distinctive voice: authoritative but always suspect with hints of possible certifiable whack-a-doo pulsating underneath)

The Trailer... 

Do you think Tom Cruise will have the comeback he's looking for over?
Will Brad Bird work well with actors who can talk back?
If you were an action star would you do your own stunts?
Are you a Yes, No or Maybe So?

Related Post from the Archive:
Directors of the Decade: Brad Bird "Mr Complexity"