Les adieux à la reine

I love a good costume drama, but anything that includes Marie-Antoinette is apparently bound to be a repetition of the same old clichés over and over.

We get it, she was completely disconnected from reality, careless and pampered and bored and tended to for every bit a normal human being does itself. Age-old cliché that Marie-Antoinette was nothing more than a self-absorbed bimbo? Check.

We get it also, the French Revolution was an immense shock to the royalty and aristocracy; not only did they not see it coming, they didn't think it was possible at all to see the end of their reign. Again, the tried-and-true representation of 18th century French aristocrats as clueless morons? Check.

So, after reinstating the same backdrop again (and again), this version puts forth a bigger focus on rumours of a lesbian love affair the queen was accused of having back then, because that would make the movie so unique.. or not. The story was already a snorefest on paper so let's toss in some sexual material to spice it up in spite of one's better judgement? Check.

The list goes on.

The photo direction is beautiful, the costumes and decors are gorgeous, the actors are all excellent, all this movie is missing is an actual story worthy of your attention. A real shame.