Marie Antoinette

Director Sofia Coppola (daughter of cinema legend Francis Ford Coppola) has somewhat quietly crept up into my list of favourite film makers this year. I recently re-visited her 2003 movie, 'Lost In Translation' (starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson), and this time was particularly taken by Sofia's use of music within the film. Now, having watched her 2006 movie 'Marie Antoinette' (starring Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman) 3 times in the last week, it's quite clear to me that is it this music aspect which gives her movies a clear signature imprint.

There is much that could be discussed with this movie; the lush cinematography is pure aesthetic eye-candy, the lighting and colour pallete is vibrant and 'pretty', the costumes are extraordinary, the writing is subtle and witty, and the acting is totally spot-on - a great ensemble piece, centred around a particularly adorable Kirsten Dunst (who plays the title character: a youthfully naive, yet very sweet, Queen of France in the 17th century).

All these elements are superb. But, really, what I think makes this an extra special movie is Sofia's choices and placement of soundtrack music. There is a wonderful blend of traditional orchestral, mixed with more contemporary sounds. For a 17th century period piece, the use of modern musicians such as Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, The Cure, and Joy Division allows the story to be not only relevant for today's 20-somethings, but rather wonderfully gives the whole movie a feeling of nostalgia and comfort.

Similar to Baz Luhrmann, with his 1996 interpretation of Shakespeare's 'Romeo + Juliet' (with Leo DiCaprio and Claire Danes), Sofia Coppola is another clever, contemporary director who not only keeps history lessons interesting for young audiences, but also ingeniously turns them into movies which actually define their generation.