I can not go into any more detail than that, or I would ruin the film, but Kruger is especially good at showing Marie Antoinette's more softer and human side. A side that recognizes her fear, her flaws and truths about her own personality. Seydoux's character Sidonie is so loyal to the queen that she almost loves her, but as the film goes on, we are not really sure why. The queen can be very vicious and uncaring to Sidonie, but yet this young woman cares deeply about the queen and what is in the queen's best interest is most important for Sidonie putting the queen's needs even ahead of her own.
As, I got thinking about the film, I think this part of it really had an impact on me and touched me and made me think in several ways. Here is a young woman who is more, or less an orphan and goes about her life serving and thinking of ways to keep the queen happy even though she herself lives in squalor and does not have the material wealth, possessions, or honour that the queen has.
The queen seems to have everything and yet seems only to think about herself, whereas Sidonie was born with nothing and lives with nothing, but feels in her heart and soul that it is her job to serve the queen and she will do so no matter what, even if there could be consequences to her decisions. My only other complaint about the film was that at times it did feel a bit rushed and maybe moved from one event to another quite quickly, but that did not stop my enjoyment of the film, I think it just asks us as viewers to be a little more patient and do some of the character analysis, or study on our own, or even after the film is over.
Even though the film does move by fast we are especially treated to a very good character study of Sidonie, who I think is the most interesting character in the film and probably the one we can relate to and even care about the most. She seems the most human whereas everyone else really does seem to be looking out for themselves and not really caring about what happens to the person next to them.
The film does a credible job of showing the majestic costumes and lavish clothes and settings where Marie Antoinette lives, but at the same time it shows the dark and dingy place where Sidonie eats and sleeps and basically calls home.
There is an element here showing a class struggle between these two characters and the more you think of it, the more evident it becomes. Farewell, My Queen is a good looking film with a terrific performance by Lea Seydoux, good character study and a film that gives us much to think about and even more to appreciate after the film is over and we have thought it over for awhile.
As, I have said before, this is the quality of a great film. Details Edit. Release date March 21, France. France Spain. French English German Italian.
Box office Edit. Technical specs Edit. Runtime 1 hour 40 minutes. Dolby Digital Dolby SR. Related news. Contribute to this page Suggest an edit or add missing content. Top Gap. See more gaps Learn more about contributing. Edit page. Hollywood Icons, Then and Now.
See the gallery. Watch the video. Recently viewed Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more. Based on a novel with the same title by Chantal Thomas , it is limited to what Sidonie can know and understand. Since all of the mounting horror takes place at a distance, in whispers, in a way it's more dreadful than if she were learning things firsthand.
The servants in a place like Versailles subscribe completely to the majesty of their employers, and although they may have no access to outside news, they are sensitive to the slightest shifts in mood from their masters. Gossip races through the palace in back corridors and down hidden staircases, and it is worst at night — when a few candles make the shadows seem more limitless. Jacquot actually filmed many of his scenes at Versailles, but takes care to display it warts and all.
One imagines the body odors, the stink of dead rats, the miasma rising from the slops, the perfumes splashed on for concealment. As the iron discipline of the palace management begins to fall apart, servants focus on their own fates. There is a fascination to be found in those who discover their sense of security has no foundation.
I was reminded of " Downfall ," the film about the final days in Hitler's bunker beneath Berlin. Its walls contained the last space ruled by Hitler's once-mighty will, and those within knew they were doomed.
As a woman who can read and write in , she must be intelligent and ambitious. She must also have learned much from the books and journals she read for the queen. This does much to account for her fate in this film. I wouldn't say "Farewell, My Queen" has a surprise ending, but it is certainly surprising and has the kind of neatness that comes through poetic justice.
Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from until his death in In , he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. Rated R for brief graphic nudity and language. Lea Seydoux as Sidonie Laborde. Noemie Lvovsky as Mme. Virginie Ledoyen as Gabrielle. Diane Kruger as Marie Antoinette. Reviews Distant rumors of doom. Roger Ebert July 17, Now streaming on:.
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