Summer Movies 2013: Marie Antoinette

Our final movie for the summer, where historical fiction sets the stage for historical gardens, is Marie Antoinette (2005). Sophia Coppola’s modern telling of the French queen’s story is based on the book Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser. The movie is set between 1768 and 1789, and tells the story of the Austrian princess’s journey from betrothal to Louis Auguste of France at age 14, the trip from Austria to Versailles in France, life at court lived on full public display, becoming queen at age 19, frustrated attempts to produce a male heir, her rebellion against protocol and retreat from her duties in Petite Trianon, and motherhood. The movie ends with Marie and Louis fleeing an angry mob in Versailles, and heading for Paris as the events of the French Revolution unfold.

Woven throughout the film (and many scenes of shopping, shoes, gowns, fans, hats, wigs, parties, gambling, champagne, and fabulous food) are glimpses of French gardens. The movie was filmed on location in France—primarily at Châteaux de Versailles, where the court lived, and Châteaux de Chantilly—so views of formal gardens, hunting parks, and the naturalistic gardens of Petite Trianon are evident. The movie takes place in the 1700s, but the gardens of Versailles were planned and built in the 1600s, following the Renaissance. These gardens were built on a grand scale, to display power and order as much as beauty; and consumed vast resources to produce and maintain. (Hence, some of the public unrest, that lead to the Revolution). In future posts we will take a closer look at how Renaissance gardens and formal gardens evolved in France and England.

Following are a few gardening-related items I noticed in the movie. Marie’s private rooms at Versailles overlook the Orangery, with its formal and symmetrical paths, parterres, and topiary trees. Gardens are used by the court to host parties, and to put on extravagant shows and spectacles (such as the staged battle in the fountain, using scaled ships and fireworks). The overall garden design is frequently laid out on an axis, or an axis with a series of perpendicular intersecting axes, following principles rediscovered from the ancient world. Fountains, statues, and grand planters abound. Interestingly, Marie Antoinette favors a more naturalistic approach at her private estate, Petite Trianon. This represents her breaking away from the protocol of court, but also anticipates the breaking away from formal gardens, to a more naturalist style of gardening to come. Take a look at the trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0422720/