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CANNES, France, May 21, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Sofia Coppola's film using contemporary culture to tell the life of Marie Antoinette premieres at the Cannes Film Festival.
Coppola tells her version of the French queen's story, including a comparison to Princess Diana and 1970s and 80s music, the Sunday Times of London reports.
The film, which Coppola admits takes some liberties with history, also draws a link between the 18th century French monarchy and the glut of the modern-day affluence.
"I wanted the film to be credible but I was inspired more by the visual than historical facts. I want people to be transported into another era with an echo of today," Coppola said.
She does that with the music, dialogue and deluge of champagne consumption although historians say the beverage wasn't popular in France at the time.
Still, Coppola tells the story of Marie Antoinette being sent from her native Austria to France, her controversial relationship with her husband and ends in the first year of the French Revolution.
Coppola won an Oscar for her film Lost in Translation.
The Cannes Film Festival begins this week.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
