Continuing his career-long fascination with troubled female protagonists, Benoît Jacquot (Deep in the Woods) turns his attention to the ultimate fractured femme – Austrian-born, French-wed Marie Antoinette, in Farewell, My Queen (Les adieux à la reine).
The fated royal’s final days in power prove an apt match for the writer/director’s proven preferences over his 40 years in filmmaking, complete with simmering tensions, difficult public perceptions, illicit desires and inevitable betrayal; however it is fiction, not fact, that largely informs his efforts.
Adapting Chantal Thomas’ 2002 novel of the same name, Jacquot and his co-scribe Gilles Taurand (Sister) urgently ponder the impact of waning authority in the Palace of Versailles, as the French Revolution comes to the court’s door. At first, the commanding Queen (Diane Kruger, The Host) is undaunted by the populace’s hardship as she fills her days with the pursuit of finer things. Of course, history has demonstrated that her decadence was instrumental in her undoing.
Yet, the melancholic Farewell, My Queen deviates from the customary biographical approach of previous cinematic depictions of its subject, anchoring Marie Antoinette’s tragic tale in the plight of her mild-mannered servant and reader Agathe-Sidonie Laborde (Léa Seydoux, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol). Despite the evident disparity of their lives, the passionate Sidonie overflows with affection and adoration for the maligned monarch, treasuring every moment in her presence. As political instability escalates, accompanied by panic, her devotion is tested beyond normal bounds.
The fragile bond between the women – seen as loyal duty by one and burgeoning friendship by the other – drives the film. In exploring an evident imbalance in their relationship, further complicated by the Queen’s confidant Gabrielle de Polignac (Virginie Ledoyen, Army of Crime), Jacquot’s insinuations are apparent, with the parallels with the public revolt obvious. Every contrast between Sidonie’s modest accommodation and Marie Antoinette’s stately suite hammers home the class conflict raging outside; each act of deference by the help and imposition by her ruler typifies the inequity seething within the nation. Though intimate in its focus – both in characters and timeframe – there can be no mistaking of the feature’s statement on its context.
An exquisite eye for detail ensures such juxtapositions echo in aesthetics as well as actions, with cinematographer Romain Winding (When Pigs Have Wings) sumptuously canvassing the surroundings and costumes. However, it is in the excellent performances, intuitively guided by Jacquot with his trademark sensitivity, that the film best enunciates its dichotomy; as those both kind and arrogant are manipulated as pawns at both extremes of power, Farewell, My Queen finds sympathy in their shared humanity.
Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5
Farewell, My Queen (Les adieux à la reine)
Director: Benoît Jacquot
France, 2012, 100 mins
Release date: June 6
Distributor: Transmission
Rated: M
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