the Food of Marie Antoinette
The other night, I finally watched Sofia Coppola's incredibly fun and colorful Marie Antoinette. It wasn't exactly a movie about food, really, about the last gasps of the French monarchy before the country spent a few hundred years stumbling towards democracy, eventually sort of claiming world domination through culture. However, food, the consumption and modeling of, playing a dominant role. Poor Marie, trapped in a difficult marriage (seven years before it was consummated?) and restrictive aristocratic culture, found solace in parties and entertainment and clothes, including shoes. Oh, the shoes.
The food was exquisite - elegant and charming and colorful and frilly. Poached salmon decoratively wrapped in cucumbers. Frosted petite fours. Bubbly champagne fountains crafted of stacked glasses and goblets of ruby red wine. Meals did play a pivotal role in key scenes, setting the social order and customs for those in the court and their hangers-on and illustrating the gradual shifts in the King and Queen's relationship. The clothes carefully matched the food - bright colors, ruffles and lace and baubles. I was not surprised to learn that the costumes were modeled after the food. Wow.
One other comment - seeing the preview, reading reviews, I wasn't sure how Sofia would pull off the juxtaposition of 80s music and 18th century France. Amazingly enough, it worked, very well. I'm probably going to buy the soundtrack, it was that impressive.