Rococo, Old and New

Elegant or frivolous? Pretty or polarizing? From 18th century Parisian salons to the Cannes premiere of Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette"—how Rococo persists in dividing its viewers.

Detail of The Swing, Jean-Honoré Fragonard ca. 1767. Via Wikimedia Commons.

I was fifteen years old when I first watched Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. I had been scrolling through YouTube when a bootlegged version of the 2006 film, split up into nine or ten parts, appeared on the screen. Enticed by the sumptuous costumes featured in the thumbnail, I clicked on the first video.

I spent the next two hours in champagne-soaked, candy-colored bliss. I didn’t know what the word “Rococo” meant, but I gained an intuitive understanding as I watched the young Antoinette (played by the magnificent Kirsten Dunst) frolic in the gardens of Versailles after a late night of partying, her friends skipping about her in silk culottes and opulent gowns, the sun rising over the lake in an outdoor scene that teeters on the edge of Romantic—until someone pops a bottle of champagne, and the party wins again.

As I’ve said before, it’s the only movie I can watch on mute and still be entertained. The prettine…