Movie Review: The Affair of the Necklace

The Affair of the NecklaceAlcon Entertainment
118 mins.
December 7, 2001
Rated: R
★★★☆☆

The Affair of the Necklace was a critical event toward the downfall of Marie Antoinette and it was a pretty deceitful and full-bodied scandal, so I was very excited to see how it played out on the screen. I’m not the biggest fan of Hilary Swank, which put this not quite on the top of my watch list, but I pushed past that and enjoyed this film for what it was.

The film gives a basis for why Jeanne de Valois sought out Marie Antoinette and how she happened to become involved in the great scheme. It was nice to have a backstory as I had not heard of one before and it fleshed out the character of Jeanne, although I’m not sure if it is historically accurate or not. I have always found myself on the side of the Queen in this scandal, but this at least made me feel for the character and why she was doing what she was (again, I don’t think her reasons here are historically accurate). I think the way that the film put together the whole Affair was very well done. All of the intrigues felt compelling and interesting; I really enjoyed it. This film is focused primarily on this one event and does not much go into the events transpiring outside the castle walls – so the inclusion of the scene beheading Marie Antoinette felt out of place here as there was no historical context provided.

Hilary Swank was successful in the role of Jeanne mostly because not too much was expected of her here. She basically walked around in a pretty dress and schemed – nothing too difficult. Oh there is one tasteful sex scene – but that was actually pretty comical!  I wasn't a huge fan of the portrayal of Marie Antoinette here - she felt very stoic and distant.

Overall, the film was a fun presentation of a very intriguing event – without being too heavy and not expecting too much.  Not really sure why this is rated R though... 

Check out this trailer:

 
 


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