Cinderella at Cannes

Yesterday was my birthday, and you know how I'd been dying to see Marie-Antoinette at the festival? Well, there were no tickets to be had anywhere and I had already lost hope when on the very same day I get a phone call from (let's call him Saint Antoine) saying that he wasn't going to the premiere and if I wanted his ticket!! (Saint Antoine is now my fairy godfather) I gladly said YES OF COURSE and ran home in order to prepare for the soirée.



I have been to the "tapis rouge" at the festival many times, but never by myself. However, I couldn't care less about that since I was going to see Marie-Antoinette. I wore a peach silk Jane Austen-like dress with a black velvet choker. I knew I had to get there early as the traffic is homicidal during the festival. My mom dropped me off and I quickly made my way through the fans and well dressed optimists asking for invitations. A handful of people approached me purring "Excusez-moi, vous avez une invitation?" Poor souls.


The entrance to the Palais is always spectacular. A sea of red flanked by photographers and fans lies before you and for a brief moment time stops. You make your way slowly past them and up the famous "marches" and all of a sudden you are brought back to reality by security men asking for your invitation, badge and French women probing your bag for any potentially lethal items.




I was sitting in the Corbeille which is the first few rows of the balcony so I could see everyone downstairs. They also have a huge screen which shows all the stars working the red carpet. Everyone came to see Sofia's new film. The whole Jury of the festival was there ( Wong Kar Wai, Monica Bellucci, Helena Bonham Carter etc. ) and a whole constellation of other stars including Sharon Stone, Penelope Cruz with Pedro Almodovar, Faye Dunaway...)

Sofia came accompanied by the cast and her beau Thomas Mars, her parents, and her brother Roman.
They all looked so happy together.

Now about the film. I have to say that it was not what I had expected from the trailer. I envisaged an energetic and fast-paced frenzy and the film was, despite the punk music, rather indolent and sometimes repetitive. The images were superb as well as the costumes and the surroundings. Many times I felt as if I were looking at fashion photography. But the story was lacking something. I felt like I had eaten one too many macarons and soufflés and I was getting nauseous. I would've liked to get to know Marie-Antoinette's innermost thoughts and desires not just her penchant for shoes, candy and gambling.
But, I trust Sofia and I will watch the movie again to see if there were subtleties I might have overlooked.


(N.B. All the pictures were taken by yours truly)