Dir. Benoît Jacquot, 2011, France, Spain. 100 min. Color, DCP.
With Léa Seydoux, Diane Kruger, Virginie Ledoyen
In French with English subtitles

Nominated for 10 César Awards in 2013 including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress for Léa Seydoux

Acclaimed director Benoît Jacquot brilliantly captures the passions, debauchery, occasional glimpses of nobility, but ultimately the chaos that engulfed the court of Marie Antoinette in her final days at Versailles.

Based on the best-selling novel by Chantal Thomas, the film stars Léa Seydoux as Sidonie Laborde, one of the queen’s ladies-in-waiting. Seemingly innocent she quietly insinuates herself into her mistress’s favors, until history tosses her fate onto a decidedly different path. Diane Kruger stars as Marie Antoinette while Virginie Ledoyen is the Duchess Gabrielle de Polignac.

Moving effortlessly between the gilded drawing rooms of the nobility to the back quarters of those who serve them, this period film is at once sumptuous and accurate in its visual details.

“NYT Critic’s Pick — [A] tense, absorbing, pleasurably original look at three days in the life and lies of a doomed monarch.” — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times