Decollete http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/ A Severed Head Gallery. Guillotine and the Tudors, Judith and Salome. Art and literature according to a decapitation enthusiast. en Copyright 2008 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 07:00:47 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The Victim's Ball victime01.jpg
Croisures à la victime, 1798
from "Fashion in the French Revolution" by Aileen Ribiero Or, les Bal des Victimes... The celebratory atmosphere following the "Reign of Terror" gave way to a number of frivolous yet gruesome fashions and pastimes, one of which was the Victim's Ball. In order to qualify for admittance in one of these sought after soirees one had to to be a close relative or spouse of one who had lost their life to the guillotine. Invitations were so coveted that papers proving your right to attend had to be shown at the door, and some were even known to forge this certificate in their eagerness. All the rage at these grand balls was to have the hair cut high up off the neck, in imitation of "le toilette du condamne" where the victim's hair is cut so as not to impede the efficiency of the blade. There were several popular hairstyles including cheveux à la titus or à la victime for both women and men, where the hair is given very short and choppy cut, and the "dog ears" worn by Muscadins, where long flops of hair are left on either side of the face, but cut right up to the hairline on the back of the neck. And for the ladies, a thin red velvet ribbon worn round the neck, or red ribbons worn croisures à la victime, a kind of reverse fichu, or ceinture croisée, across the back of the bodice forming a symbolic "x marks the spot" across the upper back.
Will posterity believe that persons whose relatives died on the scaffold did not institute days of solemn and common affliction during which, assembled in mourning clothing, they would attest to their grief over such cruel, such recent losses, but instead [instituted] days of dancing where the point was to waltz, drink and eat to one's heart's content.
—Mercier
Like most fads, these reactionary styles and those of the Incroyable et Merveilleuse crowd that ruled Paris the days after 9 Thermidor, this one was over before it began. By the end of the decade once mutually exclusive sartorial insignia such as knee breeches (monarchist) and the tricoloure were sported together with verve, irrespective of their once pertinent symbolism. It's just fashion! The short and sassy hair cut à la titus never caught on outside of France for women, but lasted in France into the next century. Men's hair never recovered. From the unpowdered long locks of the revolutionary sympathizer, to the dashingly short titus, men have endeavored to look unfussed ever since, even if it took a whole lot of fussing to achieve. Sources: ]]> http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/guillotine-the-french-kiss/victims-ball.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/guillotine-the-french-kiss/victims-ball.php Guillotine: The French Kiss Revolutionary Fashion bal des victimes costume guillotine victim's ball Thu, 29 Nov 2007 07:00:47 -0800 Marie-Antoinette and the Petit Trianon at Versailles Marie-Antoinette and the Petit Trianon at Versailles Legion of Honor, San Francisco November 17, 2007 — February 17, 2008
marie-antoinette_legion_of_honor.jpg
Now, if my google alert box weren't quite so overwhelming, I might have caught this press release when it went out. But due to the sharp eyes of a good friend, Nadja (♥), I have the link! Aieeeee! The blurb:
Marie-Antoinette, the Austrian-born queen of Louis XVI of France, was given the Petit Trianon, a small château secluded in the park at Versailles, upon her accession in 1774. An icon of French neoclassicism, it exemplifies the perfection of 18th-century French architecture through its delicate balance of form and proportion. Its interiors were furnished to the queen's order with pieces of the utmost elegance, restraint, and beauty. This exhibition gives a visual history of the Petit Trianon through 88 pieces of the finest furniture, paintings, and sculpture from this château. It is complemented by watercolors, prints, and drawings of the house and its innovative landscaping, including the picturesque Hameau, a rustic village where the queen and her favorites could relax away from the prying eyes of the court at Versailles. This is the only venue of the exhibition, which is organized by the Musée National of the Château de Versailles.
One of my favorite things about trumpeting your hobbies loud and proud (on the internet and otherwise) is that friends and strangers alike are sure to let you know of something dead or decapitated... in case you missed it. Yay! I'd be running down there this instant if I didn't have so much going on this week with Dolpa & Work & Thanksgiving & OH GAWD! Heh. In any case, it is showing at San Francisco's Legion of Honor from today til 2/17/2008, with lots of very cool special events planned. We'll report back. For reals. I still have 2837434 pictures from my Severed Head, er, Absinthe tour of Europe last summer! And more on the revolutionary fashion stuff. I'm a busy girl. But it is all coming along. Mwah! Kallisti ]]> http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/marieantoinette-and-the-petit.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/marieantoinette-and-the-petit.php Guillotine: The French Kiss Revolutionary Fashion french revolution marie antoinette Sat, 17 Nov 2007 09:24:33 -0800 Tudor England Links
  • Wikipedia: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, Catherine Parr, Lady Jane Grey, Elizabeth I, and Mary Queen of Scots
  • TudorHistory.org! Happy clicking. Bright and fun to read, wonderful pictures and good selection of portraits with lots of juicy tidbits. Awesome time-killer!
    • ]]>     http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/links/tudor-england-links.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/links/tudor-england-links.php Links The Cankered Rose tudor Fri, 09 Nov 2007 06:26:23 -0800     Les Incroyables et Merveilleuses: Fashion as Anti-Rebellion boilypdc.jpg
    Point de Convention (Absolutely no agreement)
    Louis-Léopold Boilly 1797
    A Merveilleuse is mistaken for a prostitute
    and refuses the coin offered to her. The Muscadins (or Incroyable, the Incredible) first appeared around 1792, known for their royalist sympathies and so named for the musk perfume they wore in defiance of revolutionary austerity. They re-emerged after the fall of Robespierre, ending the Terror, and were key thugs in what has become known as The White Terror, a backlash against jacobin oppression, violence, and Robespierrean virtue. The jeunesse dorée roamed the streets of Paris drinking, toasting the monarchy and lashing out at patriots with sticks. And they looked fabulous doing it. Typified by their adherence to ancien regime knee-breeches and exaggerated English style frock coats with impossibly large collars, and powdered hair dressed outlandishly in either multiple braids or "dog-eared" style, cut short in the back à la victime and long beside the face. They were literally roving bands of angry dandies. By the late 1790's however, sporting a Muscadin hairdo would no longer get you arrested (as it could in 1795) as the various styles were adopted and absorbed into the fashionable and ephemeral society of the Directoire. Aileen Ribeiro says of this image (les Incroyables) :
    Caricaturists found a perfect subject in the form of the masculine fashions of the late 1790s. Both young men wear tight-fitting square-cut coats with huge lapels, and knee-breeches decorated with loops of fabric. Their political sympathies are not necessarily clear. Although their culottes date from the ancien régime, their printed cravats are working-class in origin; and, while the man on the left wears his hair plaited at the back à la victime, the man on the right has a revolutionary cockade prominently pinned to his hat. Both have shaggy hair, the side locks falling like spaniel's ears. The implications seems to be that fashion is more important than ideology. — Fashion in the French Revolution, Aileen Ribeiro
    Les Merveilleuses, or Marvelous Women, ruled the live fast, die young social whirlwind that took over the salons of Paris after the Terror. At their front Thérésa Cabarrus Fontenay Tallien and Joséphine de Beauharnais (later Empress) both of whom just barely survived the Jacobin regime. It was partly on Thérésa's behalf, with whom Tallien had been conducting a torrid affair, that he spearheaded the Thermadorian take down of Robespierre and the Montagnards. The à la Grecque style typified by Thérésa, Joséphine, and Madame Récamier consisted of clinging, flowing classical Greek and Roman styles in white silks and muslins, draped with brightly colored shawls and ribbons edged with classical motifs. The once allegorical fashion left the painters studio and took to the streets and ballrooms, their dainty feet shod in golden sandals, and dresses dampened to enhance their cling (though wearing knitted flesh colored stays and stockings to preserve a vestige of modesty). Madame Tallien though was the real deal, and famously appeared at the Paris Opera wearing a white silk dress without sleeves and sans petticoats (gasp!). Charles Maurice de Talleyrand commented: "Il n'est pas possible de s'exposer plus somptueusement!" ("It is not possible to exhibit oneself more sumptuously!") [source: wikipedia]. Hair was worn curled and dressed with ribbons à la grecque or clipped short à la victime or à la titus, in emulation of the last haircut the condemned received before being sent to the guillotine so as not to impede the blade. This short and sassy style lasted amazingly til the early 1800s, but never caught on in England or other countries, unlike the empire waisted dress, which proved the silhouette du jour for nearly thirty years.]]>     http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/incroyables-et-merveilleus.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/incroyables-et-merveilleus.php Guillotine: The French Kiss Revolutionary Fashion 18th century costume fashion french revolution incroyables merveilleuse muscadin Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:05:01 -0800     Sans-culottes: Artisans of Paris sansculottes_bastille05.jpg
    Sans-culottes carrying a model of the Bastille, 1793Sans-culottes: Literally "without knee breeches" i.e. not a Mr. Fancy Pants, an aristo, as the working man wore trousers. This became the defacto uniform for the Sans-culotte, along with the Phrygian Cap, removed from the lofty spear of Liberté, and the tricolour cockade. ]]>     http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/sansculottes.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/sansculottes.php Guillotine: The French Kiss Revolutionary Fashion french revolution jacobins sans-culotte Fri, 20 Jul 2007 07:21:02 -0800     Patriots & People: Parisian Fashion 1789-1795 david_portrait_jean_baptiste_milhaud2.jpg
    1793-94 Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Milhaud,
    Deputy of the Convention
    Jacques Louis DavidJust as the 1770s saw Marie Antoinette celebrated France's naval prowesswith the famous ship pouf hair coiffeur, the revolution inspired, and even regulated, the fashions of the day. People enthusiastic for the Revolution and reform festooned themselves in tricolour ribbons, sashes and cockades. Women began dressing like greek goddesses, and men shorn their hair and forewent the poudré. The period of the Terror, things like fashion plates disappeared and Paris went artistically quiet (except for David, who was busy sending people to the guillotine in the Convention). When Robespierre fell there was a backlash against "virtue" and people put rings on their toes, danced in the streets, and beat eachother up with sticks. Some Terms: Incroyables et Merveilleuses: the Muscadins and Demi-mondaine are covered in their own post. Sans-culottes: Also have their own post. In short, it means literally "without knee breeches"... in other words, not an aristo, as the working man wore trousers. Just like cooks today wear checkered pants, the artisans of the day typically wore a red and white striped trouser. This became the defacto uniform for the Sans-culotte, along with the Phrygian Cap, removed from the lofty spear of Liberté, and the tricolour cockade. Le Tricoteuse (female knitters) were famous for sitting in the front row before the guillotine, knitting. Like the laundresses and fishwives, they were known for their volatility and zeal. Madame DeFarge from Dicken's "Tale of Two Cities" was a tricoteuse. Source for all good things on the art of dress: Aileen Ribeiro (my hero!)]]>     http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/patriot.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/patriot.php Guillotine: The French Kiss Revolutionary Fashion 18th century costume david fashion french revolution marie antoinette vigee-lebrun Thu, 19 Jul 2007 07:25:45 -0800     Phrygian Caps & Tricolore Cockades liberty.jpg
    Libertyle Bonnet Rouge, Phrygian Cap, Cap of Liberty [more info]: Borrowed from Roman tradition, the bonnet rouge became a symbol of liberty during the revolution. And is apparent to this day in french national iconography. An elongated soft woolen cap with the tip pulled forward, it became an every day staple of revolutionary dress, particularly by the sans-culottes. The Tricolour Cockade: A roundel of ribbon to be worn mostly on hats. in 1789 the tricolore was adopted as a means to declare your revolutionary sympathies, and later as a national symbol of the new France. By July 1792 a law was passed making it mandatory for all men to wear the tricolore cocarde. The following year the Societé des Républicaines-Révolutionnaires, a fervently Republican club of middle and lower class women, took to the streets threatening to whip any woman who failed to don their cockade, even though the wearing of them had not been mandated for women. So they petitioned the Convention requesting such a law make it on the books. Source: The Politics of Appearances: Representations of Dress in Revolutionary France ... [BUY FROM AMAZON.COM]]]>     http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/caps-and-cockades.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/caps-and-cockades.php Guillotine: The French Kiss Revolutionary Fashion 18th century bonnet rouge cockade costume fashion french revolution liberty cap phygian tricolore Wed, 18 Jul 2007 07:48:46 -0800     <![CDATA[Chemise à la Reine: Underwear to Outerwear]]> lebrun_marie_antoinette_1783.jpg
    Marie Antoinette
    by Vigée le Brun, 1783 By the time Vigée le Brun scandalized the masses by exhibiting the Queen in what appeared to be her underwear in 1783, the queen and women of quality had been going en chemise for several years and not just in the privacy of their boudoir. Like oil and water, the classes didn't mix and this was the first time the populace had been exposed en masse to the depravities of the aristocracy. Ironically, the shocking bit was the lack of formality shown by a monarch already famous for flouting tradition. The Queen (capitol Q) was shown without any of the outward symbols and trappings of her position, culturally naked, and appearing en negligée was taken as an insult to her position as mother of the people. Le Brun was forced to remove her painting from the public eye, but like all scandals, they inspire more than they deter and the chemise gown became the symbolic frock of the 1780's. The earliest versions were formed much like actual chemises, consisting of four pieces of rectangular cotton muslin yardage and gathered at the neck, just under the bosom, and again at the natural waist, which was then belted with very broad silk sash and tied in back. Sleeves were full, and also tied at two or three places, stopping at or just below the elbow. This was frequently finished off at the neck with a double or tripple collar. By 1790 classical lines and revolutionary ardor had taken the beau monde by storm and women of fashion and culture appeared in portraits and the salons as idolized Roman matrons or Greek godesses. This was primarily achieved by losing the gathered waist and broad sash and the fullness of the sleeves. Sleeves were either close fitted into the armhole, and no longer than just above the elbow, or non-existant, a la toga. It wasn't until the later Empire period that the poofy sleeve often associated with this style was introduced.
    prisonfood.jpg
    1794 Delivering a basket of food
    to the Conciergerie prison, the last stop before the guillotine
    As revolutionary sentiment reached a fever pitch (and mostly among the artistocracy, I might add), the pinnacle of outward expression of revolutionary fervor was the Roman simplicity and egalitarian nature of the the white muslin gown. Initially quite modest by our standards, by 1791 the simple frock was every bit as daring as can be imagined. Up until 1800 it could be worn with or without short-waisted corsets. There are numerous portraits of young women of the demi-monde going bare-breasted or the semi-transparent. This effect was often enhanced by dampening the dress with water so it would cling to the figure like a classical statue. In order to preserve some semblance of modesty knitted knee length knickers would be worn... the first underwear maybe? And can be clearly seen in this Incroyable et Merveilleuse painting by Boilly. Continued: For the most extreme and exotic versions of the fashion, please see the Incroyable & Merveilleuse gallery! (coming soon!) ]]>     http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/chemise-dress.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/chemise-dress.php Guillotine: The French Kiss Revolutionary Fashion 18th century costume fashion french revolution marie antoinette Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:10:28 -0800     Timeline: Fashion in the French Revolution 1793-1778-contrast-wholeplate-lowQ.jpg
    "Ah! Quelle Antiquité!!!"
    1793 meets 1774 I celebrated this year's Bastille Day by sorting through my hundreds of images on my hard-drive and old versions of this site to categorize galleries of late 18th century (mostly french) costume. We'll introduce this new subcategory with a summary timeline. ]]>     http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/timeline.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/revolutionary-fashion/timeline.php Guillotine: The French Kiss Revolutionary Fashion 18th century costume fashion french revolution marie antoinette vigee-lebrun Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:00:36 -0800     The Beatrice Cenci Portrait, by Guido Reni? Nay! beatrice-cenci-guido-reni.jpg
    Portrait of Beatrice Cenci
    possibly by Elisabetta Sirani c. 1662
    previously thought to be by Guido Reni The best known image of Beatrice is a popular portrait supposed to have been by Guido Reni. Not quite up to par with the master, it is now thought to be by an artist of his circle, the daughter of his long time assistant, Elisabetta Sirani. Poignantly serene in the face of calamity, this portrait of a young woman has been reproduced ad infinitim in oil, on porcelain, in print, and other media for centuries. There is some speculation that the painting may have influenced Vermeer and his three-quarter view of "Girl with a Pearl Earring," but it wasn't til over one hundred years after Vermeer that the portrait appeared out of a Baroque fog in the eighteenth century, mentioned in a catalogue of paintings owned by the Barberini family in 1783 and attributed thusly: 'Picture of a head. Portrait, believed to be of the Cenci girl. Artist unknown.' A few years later a copy of the catalogue attributes the painting to Guido Reni. (source: Beatrice's Spell by Belinda Jack) While most art historians currently dispute both attributions, that of being Beatrice and painted by Reni, the portrait fills a vacuum and remains our most tangible link to an enduring legend. ]]>     http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/a-decapitation-miscellany/beatrice-cenci-guido-reni.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/a-decapitation-miscellany/beatrice-cenci-guido-reni.php A Decapitation Miscellany beatrice cenci elisabetta sirani guido reni mary shelley percy bysshe shelley Tue, 27 Feb 2007 11:30:15 -0800     Marie Antoinette Online Marie Antoinette Online: wonderful gallery and information ]]> http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/links/marie-antoinette-online.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/links/marie-antoinette-online.php Guillotine: The French Kiss Links Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:13:07 -0800 Showtime: The Tudors The Tudors at Showtime.com Airdate: Sunday, April 1st, 2007 Edit: (2/26/2007) With the introduciton of the Showtime official site for The Tudors... it is starting to look rather exciting, despite the very mod popstar treatment. I don't know if it is just because Jonathon Rhys-Meyers is hot (hhhhhhhawt), or the dramatic Lachrymose soundtrack, but the new trailer is definately more gripping. I'm starting to think: oh boy! Ha-ha. I'm a sucker.
    I don't know how I feel about this. Article at New York Times.
    the_tudors_rhys_meyers.jpg
    Jonathon Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII
    Nice touch with the wives being cropped at the neck.
    I just don't know why they can't do something more rock 'n' roll and keep the costumes more traditional. Or something. I'm not that stuffy, I've loved some non-traditional adaptations. But they have to be good. Like "Titus." Yarm, yarm! But I really haven't liked much of the recent Tudor pix or series, and one of the reasons is their modernist approach and all that "must get the ignorant masses to relate to crazy tudor england" stuff. I love Jonathon Rhys Meyers though. And Jonathon Rhys Meyers in gold lame even better. I guess after Anne of the Thousand Days it is all downhill. Also, why "The Tudors"? Looks like it is just one Tudor to me. Meh. I'm just sayin'. The Tudors ]]>     http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/the-cankered-rose/showtime-the-tudors.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/the-cankered-rose/showtime-the-tudors.php Bibliography The Cankered Rose Tue, 17 Oct 2006 11:47:08 -0800     Marie Antoinette at LadyReading.net Marie-Antoinette: Comprehensive site, including lots of images and information. ]]> http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/links/marie-antoinette-at-ladyreadin.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/links/marie-antoinette-at-ladyreadin.php Links Mon, 09 Oct 2006 12:22:38 -0800 Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola
    A Film by Sofia Coppola,
    based on the book by Antonia Fraser Release Date (USA): October 20th, 2006 (IMDB Listing) I'm more than a little excited by the much anticipated and talked about Marie Antoinette from Sophia Coppola. I first heard report of the adaptation nearly two years ago, and have been following not too closely ever since. I'm afeared to become saturated in pre-release excitement, so I have restrained myself. But I watched the trailer for the first time today since seeing the teaser over a year ago and I'm all giddy with anticipation now. I'm probably one of the few people this film is specifically made for. Me. All me. Being of an age with the director, I completely gel with her conceptualizing Marie as a modern teenager, and using music and motifs evocative of our own adolescence just makes wonderfully hysterical sense to me. As a matter of fact, it seems a brilliant way to bring Antoinette some sympathy. She is a difficult character to sympathize with on the suface. But she was very young and very sheltered when she was thrust center stage into the French Court, certainly one of the freakiest places to have existed ever. I am a bit consternated that the revolution is given such short shrift in the film. And am hoping there is some balance with the veritable cinema blancmange that is the first two-thirds, or three-quarters or what have you. There is certainly something to be said for cinematic blancmange! But I understand it is more about the fluff than the tragedy. John Hughes rococo style! In any case, I'll buy the soundtrack as soon as it is released. Mwowrrr! You can read more here about Marie Antoinette and the Guillotine! EDIT: Saturday, October 21st, 2006 We went with Kelly & Robert to opening night in The City last night. They kindly filled us with champagne and cake beforehand at their lovely little victorian urban abode (wah, I miss city livin' despite the tranny whores and crack smokers!). Gadzooks, it was gorgeous. It was hands down the most scrumptiously art directed costume froufy drama I've ever seen. And they knew it. The camera completely frotterized the exquisite costuming and candy, I've never been so desperately aroused by the cinema before. Sitting front center was totally awesome, all encompassing. That said, the film is not for everyone. I'm a devout revolutionary, and never sympathized much with Marie Antoinette and her side of the fence, she wasn't a very good queen, but that doesn't mean she wasn't a good person. What I loved about Coppola's and Fraser's perspective is that we become immediately immersed in her story, the bubble she lived in. There are times when the myriad of mixed up acting styles and accents were jarring, but most of the story is told through whispers and sidelong glances. Coppola uses metaphor (sometimes anachonistically) to communicate things about 18th century life that we could not, would not understand. The strictures of etiquette, the importance of performance and presence. Marie Antoinette's first crime against the people was not that she was too haughty and distant, queenly even, but that she wasn't queenly enough. She sought release from some of the strictures of Versailles, and in doing so crossed boundaries that should not have been crossed (and spent heaps of cash, besides). The film addresses these things metaphorically and artfully. We understand without being told once the barrier created by tradition and etiquette falls, the people lose the respect for her that otherwise might have been manipulated in the face of revolution. I was very excited to see Madame Vigee-Lebrun, the portait artist. Or the back of her at least. I have a thing for lady painters. Marie Antoinette, at thirty-seven, was cut down just as she was growing up. Being the age she was when she was executed, I feel this accutely. The film ends just where the second half of her story begins. Though disappointed, I feel this was the right thing to do, considering the stories angle. There are stories yet to be told of the Revolution, I'll await MA, Part Deux for the denouement. This just in: From my favorite critic at Salon.com. Stephanie Zacharek always gets it.
    No one-time teenager has suffered more from the cruelty of history's gossip mill than Marie Antoinette. When she was told the peasants were starving for lack of bread, the Marie Antoinette of lore shot back, "Let them eat cake!" -- a great line, straight out of "Mean Girls," except that the real Marie Antoinette never said it. Imported to France from her native Austria at age 14, she was the brokered bride of a future king, a bargaining chip with a womb. Her purpose was to cement peace between, and solidify the power of, the two nations. Marie Antoinette landed in a country, and a court, that eyed her with suspicion and contempt: She was a callow, uneducated foreigner, barely worth the disdain of oh-so-civilized France, and the fact that she couldn't immediately produce an heir didn't help. But because she was a future queen, she had access to -- and availed herself of -- the grand and costly buffet of opulence that had been the norm in Versailles long before she arrived. To paraphrase a lyric from another Lesley Gore song: You would shop, too, if it happened to you. There is shopping in Sofia Coppola's buoyant, passionately sympathetic dream-bio "Marie Antoinette" (which plays the New York Film Festival Friday night, and opens in New York and other cities on Oct. 20). But this is not -- as you might have believed if you trusted the reviews out of Cannes, scrawled by critics from the garretlike confines of their hotel rooms as they clutched their Mao jackets tighter to protect themselves from the threat of beauty, pleasure and decadence -- a movie about shopping. Nor is it a straightforward biopic or a history of the French Revolution (it never purports to be either of those things). "Marie Antoinette" is Coppola's silk-embroidered fantasy sampler of the inner life of a queen we can never really know: It's a humanist comedy-drama decked out not in sackcloth but in ribbons -- instead of flattering our ideas of our own virtuousness, it asks our sympathy for this doomed queen even as we can't help envying her privilege.
    Read on... Movie Tie-ins:

    Marie Antoinette
    Antonia Fraser

    Marie Antoinette
    Original Soundtrack

    Marie Antoinette
    Sofia Coppola
    ]]>     http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/bibliography/marie-antoinette-movie.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/bibliography/marie-antoinette-movie.php Bibliography Guillotine: The French Kiss film guillotine marie antoinette Fri, 06 Oct 2006 16:04:09 -0800     Judith & Salome Links and Resources
  • Wikipedia: Salome, Herodias, Judith ]]> http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/links/judith-salome-links-and-resour.php http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/links/judith-salome-links-and-resour.php Judith & Salome Links Wed, 27 Sep 2006 22:21:59 -0800