Coppola was thrilled by Canonero’s contribution to the film. “It was amazing to see what she did and how she saw the big picture, because we would look at the individual costumes separately in her studio. But when all the actors came together on the set, you could see how all the different colors and incredible details each worked together to create something very rich and beautiful,” she says. “It was very exciting to watch that happen, to see what we had imagined come to life.”
Marie Antoinette once wrote to her mother: “I put on my rouge and wash my hands in front of the whole world.” She was barely exaggerating. Far from a cozy home for the King and Queen of France, Versailles was a complicated universe unto itself, where thousands of royals and their servants lived — and watched in rapt attention over the every move — no matter how trivial — the monarchs made.
It is hard to imagine in the 21st Century, but Marie Antoinette’s life, body and activities were not perceived as belonging to her but rather to the nation of France and the entire royal apparatus. She was dressed by others, groomed by others, had to eat her meals in full public view and every word she uttered was supposed to be in accordance with the royal codes of behavior. Privacy was impossible. Even on their wedding night, Marie Antoinette and Louis were far from alone. Their nuptial bed had to be publicly blessed and as they climbed into it for the first time, they were surrounded by a considerable crowd. Later, Marie Antoinette even had to go through her entire child labor in front of curious onlookers.
It was Louis XIV who first established many of Versailles’ outrageously elaborate rules of etiquette in an attempt to keep better control over infighting among the nobles. The protocol covered just about every aspect of behavior and dress and involved stark definitions of who was superior to whom. When it came to Marie Antoinette, the protocol was particularly intense, beginning each morning when she faced elaborate dressing and grooming rituals. Highly specific rules covered who could hand Marie Antoinette her underwear, who could give her a bar of soap, who could apply her rouge, all the way down to who could have the privilege of touching her skin in the bath. Meanwhile, every detail of her existence, from the mundane to the embarrassing, from her sex life to her menstrual cycle, was recorded for all to know.
It was all incredibly complicated and the remarkable scene in MARIE ANTOINETTE in which a naked Marie Antoinette sits shivering while various visitors pass along the right of handing the Dauphine her underwear is drawn directly from Antoina Fraser’s research. The irony is that despite being surrounded by thousands of onlookers and attendants, Marie Antoinette felt utterly secluded and alone – a young girl trapped in a fantasy world that left her precious little freedom.
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