Write a sequence analysis of a clip (maximum length: 5 minutes) from the film Marie Antoinette and discuss this sequence in relation to the film as a whole.
The sequence to be analysed in this essay is from Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film Marie Antoinette . It is an unconventional historical drama based on the life of Queen Marie Antoinette in the years leading up to the French Revolution. The clip takes place at the beginning of the film from timestamp 09:28-11:20 [1] when a young Marie Antoinette is crossing the border into France. She is transformed from being an Austrian archduchess into the Dauphine of France through a ritualistic ceremony in a tent. Marie, played by the young actress Kirsten Dunst, was to be married to Prince Louis in Versailles and it was custom that the bride would retain “nothing belonging to a foreign court”. [2] She is curtly separated from her pet dog and her cloths so that she can emerge from the other side, dressed in the style of the French court. This clip highlights the politicisation of the female body through the use of editing techniques and costume as well as the breakdown and recreation of Marie’s ne...