Or Marie Antoinette: The Last Four Days. The storming of the Bastille and the final days before the French Revolution as seen from inside the walls of the Palace of Versailles form the basis for the latest feature from French director Benoît Jacquot (A Single Girl, The School of Flesh). Léa Seydoux stars as Marie’s (Diane Kruger) lady-in-waiting, a seeming innocent who aspires to be more than just her Queen’s personal reader. As taken as the Queen is by her servant, Marie has her heart set on her BFF, the Duchess Gabrielle de Polignac (Virginie Ledoyen). (The latter couple barely appear onscreen together long enough to give the film its poster image.) Not bad as historical claptrap goes. Based on Chantal Thomas’s novel, Farewell, My Queen isn’t as juvenile as Sofia Coppola’s Valley Girlization of the ill-fated Queen’s life. (Nor is it as eager as Mozart’s Sister was to tamper with the truth just enough to put a feminist slant on the retelling.) Sumptuous to behold and as fine as the performances are, the Upstairs, Downstairs approach has been done to death and nothing here comes close to giving it a new lease on life. (2012) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.