In 2005, Eleanor Coppola captured 80 hours of raw, behind-the-scenes footage during the production of her daughter Sofia Coppola’s third feature film, “Marie Antoinette.” The project was remarkably ambitious, featuring a $40 million budget, 57 scheduled shooting days, and rare, unprecedented filming access within the Palace of Versailles. Eleanor and Sofia worried early on about the lack of drama. Roger Ebert, in a four-star review, wrote that, “every criticism I have read of this film would alter its fragile magic and reduce its romantic and tragic poignancy to the level of an instructional film.
While Eleanor had previously gained acclaim for “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse,” which documented the intense, chaotic filming of her husband Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now,” she did not initially set out to direct her own documentary on the set of “Marie Antoinette.
She was present primarily to assist with marketing materials. “She loved to show how things are made,” Sofia noted in a recent interview. “The truth of what’s really going on behind that was always interesting to her.”
Following the film’s original release, Eleanor remained frustrated that her footage had not been curated according to her vision, particularly missing the chance to showcase Milena Canonero’s intricate costume designs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Eleanor revisited the material and began to envision a larger project. Although she passed away in April 2024 before the film was completed, Sofia took on the responsibility of finalizing it. Then one day during the COVID-19 pandemic, Eleanor decided to revisit the footage and started dreaming a little bigger: Maybe there was something there after all. She told her daughter that she wanted this film to be finished and her book, “Two of Me: Notes on Living and Leaving,” published, before Eleanor died in April 2024. She’s sitting in a trailer with her mom and is visibly annoyed that she’s being filmed, in one moment. “Maybe I should rest so I can come onto set fresh and not having done a press junket in my trailer with my mom,” Sofia says. Hero dad who took down school shooter speaks out: ‘I was supposed to be there. According to ilhan Omar, She will move from her Washington, DC, home after federal search. “I hope that it’s helpful for people to see that there is evolution of people as, you don’t just walk on set and be this experienced person, like you have to find it,” Sofia said. “And you have to do things your own way, and it’s not always the way that everyone else does it.”. She also starred in Eleanor’s directorial debut, “Paris Can Wait.
Now released in select theaters, “Making Marie Antoinette” serves as an intimate look at the creative process.
It is scheduled to arrive on the streaming platform Mubi on Nov. 6. Sofia described the documentary as a “fly on the wall” experience, influenced by the plotless style of Frederick Wiseman. Unlike the notorious tension on the set of “Apocalypse Now,” the “Marie Antoinette” shoot was famously orderly, with the production finishing on time and within its budget. 6, it’ll be available to stream on Mubi. They’re just like fly on the wall,” Sofia said. “And I thought, oh, maybe it’s cool for the movie just to feel like what it was like on the set.
Sofia observed that the documentary acts as a feminine counterpoint to her mother’s earlier work. The footage contains several candid treasures, including the first meeting between Sofia and her then-boyfriend Thomas Mars, as well as moments featuring the late Marianne Faithfull. To provide narrative structure, the production team used Eleanor’s original journal entries, which are narrated in the film by actor Diane Lane, a long-time family collaborator. Vance intensifies rapidly and could become a Category 3 hurricane off Mexico’s coast. No matter their age, knows this kind of interaction well, any mother and daughter.
The editing process required Sofia to step outside her comfort zone. She admitted that including scenes where she appeared irritable or vulnerable was difficult, yet necessary to maintain authenticity. “I didn’t want it to be a puff piece,” she explained. “I wanted to show all the sides of that experience.” The documentary also tracks Sofia’s own development as a director learning to assert her vision on a high-stakes production.
The initial release of “Marie Antoinette” faced significant challenges, including being famously booed at the Cannes Film Festival and receiving a lukewarm reception from critics, though it earned roughly $60 million globally. It wasn’t a disaster, but it wasn’t a hit either, with some $60 million in worldwide ticket sales, at the box office.
Over the last two decades, however, the film has undergone a major cultural reappraisal. It’s undergone a significant cultural reappraisal, but in the past 20 years.
Its 20th anniversary is currently marked by a 4K theatrical re-release, a photo book by Andrew Durham, and an exhibition at the Petit Trianon in Versailles running through January.
For Sofia, the project has served as a poignant way to process her grief. “It’s such a gift that she gave us this footage and that I got to kind of spend this year of grieving her in this way,” Sofia said. “She had such a specific way of doing things and seeing the world.”
