Farewell, My Queen is a 2012 French drama film directed by Benoît Jacquot and based on the novel of the same name by author Chantal Thomas. It gives a fictional account of the last days of Marie Antoinette in power through the eyes of Sidonie Laborde, a young servant tasked with reading to the queen. The film stars Diane Kruger, Léa Seydoux, and Virginie Ledoyen. It opened the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2012 and has subsequently been screened at other festivals. Its release date was 21 March 2012 in France.
Director: Benoît Jacquot
Writers: Benoît Jacquot (scenario), Gilles Taurand (scenario)
Stars: Diane Kruger, Léa Seydoux and Virginie Ledoyen
Farewell, My Queen marks the return of acclaimed director Benoît Jacquot
and brilliantly captures the passions, debauchery, occasional glimpses
of nobility and ultimately the chaos that engulfed the court of Marie
Antoinette in the final days before the full-scale outbreak of the
Revolution. Based on the best-selling novel by Chantal Thomas, the film
stars Léa Seydoux as one of Marie's ladies-in-waiting, seemingly an
innocent but quietly working her way into her mistress's special favors,
until
history tosses her fate
onto a decidedly different path. With the action moving effortlessly
from the gilded drawing rooms of the nobles to the back quarters of
those who serve them, this is a period film at once accurate and
sumptuous in its visual details and modern in its emotions.
