First Look At Diane Kruger As Marie Antoinette In Berlin Film Festival Opener 'Farewell, My Queen'

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by Kevin Jagernauth
January 4, 2012 9:16 AM
7 Comments

Just when you thought you had a moment, it's all starting up again. A fresh movie year is ahead of us with major festivals at Sundance, SXSW and Cannes set to get the ball rolling in the first half of the year, and next month Berlin lays out their annual red carpet. This morning, organizers have announced that Benoit Jacquot's "Farewell, My Queen" will open the festival on February 9th.

The picture is one we've been keeping an eye on for a while now. An adaptation of Chantal Thomas’ novel, the film sees Diane Kruger taking on the role Marie Antoinette with the beauitful Lea Seydoux (recently spied in "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol") as Sidonie Laborde, a reader to her royal majesty, in the story that is set during the final days of the French Revolution. The cast is rounded out by Virginie Ledoyen who stars as Marie's BFF, the Duchesse de Polignac. Last summer, some behind the scenes video gave us a first glimpse of the cast, but Belgian distributor Lumiere have the first official stills. And as you might expect, this looks promisingly sumptuous.

"Farewell, My Queen" will open in Belgium on March 21st, with the Netherlands following on April 19th, so we'd wager a trailer of sorts will arrive soon. But until then, these stills will have to suffice. The Berlin Festival runs from February 9-19.

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More: Diane Kruger, Léa Seydoux, Farewell, My Queen

7 Comments

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Elissa Shaw | January 11, 2012 1:34 AMReply

219 years later and miss Marie Antoinette is still the center of attention...amazing! I loved the Coppola movie for its pop culture teenage royalty frivolousness but have also longed for a movie that will show the strike of reality that hit the Queen in 1789. Can't wait for it to debut in the states, otherwise I'm booking a flight to Europe.
BourbonLove | January 7, 2012 8:27 PMReply

I hope this is not another modern attempt to interpret 18th Century
friendships as 21 Century lesbian love affairs...how tiresome and vapid...
and the life of this incredible woman as a senseless teenage, self centered
valley girl...this is a very important period in history and really deserves a
serious treatment of the material by a top rate cinematographer
Genie | January 4, 2012 3:52 PMReply

The film isn't set during the final days of the French Revolution, but July 14th - 16th, the days before/during/after the Bastille fell. Wonder when it will get released in Europe and/or stateside...
jingmei | January 4, 2012 9:48 AMReply

Diane Kruger is a German though she is a bilingual actress.
Rebecca | January 4, 2012 9:23 AMReply

Kiki will always be Marie Antoinette
bourbonlove | January 7, 2012 8:29 PM

No, I think Norma Shearer will always be Marie Antoinette
Amir Syarif Siregar | January 4, 2012 9:26 AM

I'll second that.