I just saw this on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), and from now on, Norma Shearer is the face I will put on Marie Antoinette. Such great acting from such a beautiful woman who truly embodied the role.
These days, it seems that every big movie has to have some cursing, nudity, sexual references of every kind or strong violence, but this old film is better than many of the latest, and it's in black and white, no nudity, or anything else that we have come to expect from movies.
For instance, if this film were made today, we would expect to see the beheading. This film doesn't show it, so it doesn't leave you with the shock or awe of seeing a beheading, but it does leave the cruelty of the situation which is much more enduring and meaningful to the tragedy.
Whether this is historically accurate wasn't a concern with me since all I really remembered from school was that she was beheaded, so this shouldn't be a spoiler. But the story was engrossing and very enjoyable regardless of whether it was historically accurate. Indeed, if anything, it may inspire personal research as to what Marie Antoinette was really like.
Full stars because this film truly is an excellent film and should be watched. I'm really liking some of these old great movies for some of the reasons already stated. Take away color, special effects, gratuitous violence and nudity, and you're pretty much left with having to make a movie with great photography, acting, and writing. Take the cream of that crop, and you're pretty much guaranteed an enjoyable experience.
Forgive me, I just recently became willing to pay for cable TV, and I'm really starting to dig these classics that I would probably never have seen otherwise. It's like finding hidden treasure in a way!
These days, it seems that every big movie has to have some cursing, nudity, sexual references of every kind or strong violence, but this old film is better than many of the latest, and it's in black and white, no nudity, or anything else that we have come to expect from movies.
For instance, if this film were made today, we would expect to see the beheading. This film doesn't show it, so it doesn't leave you with the shock or awe of seeing a beheading, but it does leave the cruelty of the situation which is much more enduring and meaningful to the tragedy.
Whether this is historically accurate wasn't a concern with me since all I really remembered from school was that she was beheaded, so this shouldn't be a spoiler. But the story was engrossing and very enjoyable regardless of whether it was historically accurate. Indeed, if anything, it may inspire personal research as to what Marie Antoinette was really like.
Full stars because this film truly is an excellent film and should be watched. I'm really liking some of these old great movies for some of the reasons already stated. Take away color, special effects, gratuitous violence and nudity, and you're pretty much left with having to make a movie with great photography, acting, and writing. Take the cream of that crop, and you're pretty much guaranteed an enjoyable experience.
Forgive me, I just recently became willing to pay for cable TV, and I'm really starting to dig these classics that I would probably never have seen otherwise. It's like finding hidden treasure in a way!