Thursday, September 30, 2010

Candy, Cakes and Desserts of Marie Antoinette the Movie

Many of you have seen posts on Marie Antoinette the movie by Sophia
 Coppola. I only had a chance to see it tonight which inspired me to look up
a synopsis of her life story to see how accurate the portrayal of her life was. 
The movie isn't exact but it comes close (she had 4 children and not 2 among
other points.)  It skips over the latter portion of her life where she became
more involved with politics and tried to help her husband.  

I think Marie Antoinette is one of the most misrepresented people in history.  
She was literally the scapegoat of France in those times.  Despite the odds, 
she managed to survive in a politically hostile environment with a mother who
sought only to use her solely as a political pawn.  Unfortunately, she actually
had very little political influence in France.  Not to mention a husband who was 
so insecure that the marriage wasn't consummated until 7 years after they
were married (and even then - intervention was required to get to the bottom
of the mystery...)  Granted they were married at 14, but 7 years is a long time
not to consummate a marriage. 

I now appreciate what an amazing woman she was and have come to see 
the enormous amount of pressure she was under.  Like many of us gals 
today, when she was depressed or down - she liked to party and have retail
therapy.  As for her spending, it was no more frivolous than what a queen 
would have spent in those days.  I can't imagine being sent away from home 
at 14 to a foreign land to be married.  Being Austrian (not friendly with the 
French), she was a convenient scapegoat.  

What I liked about the film is that it did not feel like any of the usual period 
films.  The film is from theperspective of Marie Antoinette and it makes feel 
as if you are personally witnessing all the events.  I also think the romantic
scenes were wonderfully filmed - romantic and classy (no need for graphic
detail.)  Enough of my babbling and onto the eye candy... literally!


Laduree provided all of the candy, desserts 
and sweets that were shown in the movie.



In fact everything in the movie looked like candy and cake.
 Absolutely gorgeous.


Strawberries galore.


Candied almonds adorn this plate with a 
piece of chocolate as the centerpiece.


Isn't the orange color a feast for the eyes?




Pink and Red go so well together for candy and desserts.


A personal cake inspired by Marie Antoinette (not my cake.)


If any of you are interested in Marie Antoinette's story, Sophia Coppola based 
her movie script on a book she read on Marie Antoinette's life called:  Marie

Photos are from Google and movie stills from Sony