I liked this documentary. I knew nothing of Marie Antoinette before. But this kept my interest. Based on a quick scan of other materials, it seems to be accurate, but not complete. Maybe a miniseries would be welcome.
I want to counter what some other comments have said.
Marie Antoinette certainly deserved the guillotine, and the film shows why. She committed treason, repeatedly, and it is not unusual that such crimes were punishable by death (although I personally oppose the death penalty in all cases). The problem in Marie's case is not that she was executed, but that she was executed without adequate evidence. That's not a crime against her (who also perjured herself) but is a crime against justice, and the liberty the new republic so desired.
And it is important that we see the actual items that were used to discredit and demonize the Queen. There's simply no way that you can express these items adequately in words. If an audience can't handle seeing them for about 5% of the movie, I suggest the problem is with the audience, not the movie.
It's a story of a tragic life, given a privileged start, but then confined and wasted, and realizing only too late that she actually had to do something to keep her job, and then doing exactly the wrong things. Her children didn't fare much better, and the republic started with hypocrisy. Nobody won.
I want to counter what some other comments have said.
Marie Antoinette certainly deserved the guillotine, and the film shows why. She committed treason, repeatedly, and it is not unusual that such crimes were punishable by death (although I personally oppose the death penalty in all cases). The problem in Marie's case is not that she was executed, but that she was executed without adequate evidence. That's not a crime against her (who also perjured herself) but is a crime against justice, and the liberty the new republic so desired.
And it is important that we see the actual items that were used to discredit and demonize the Queen. There's simply no way that you can express these items adequately in words. If an audience can't handle seeing them for about 5% of the movie, I suggest the problem is with the audience, not the movie.
It's a story of a tragic life, given a privileged start, but then confined and wasted, and realizing only too late that she actually had to do something to keep her job, and then doing exactly the wrong things. Her children didn't fare much better, and the republic started with hypocrisy. Nobody won.