Movie Description:
Her name has become synonymous withthe French monarchy andall its excessesbut there is more to the story of Marie Antoinette than the simplistic tale ofhow a frivolous sovereign helped provokethe uprising that became the French Revolution. Shewas, in fact, a tender- hearted, complex woman, whose tragicawakening came too late to saveher fromthe guillotine. Withoutlosing sight of the dire inequities in 18th century France,this program paints a surprisingportrait in which Marie Antoinette emerges as a sympathetic and, in the endcourageous figure. This two-hour film traces her journey from the splendorsof her childhood in the palacesof the mighty Austro-HungarianEmpire to her final hours in a squalid French prison cell. To tell the story of MarieAntoinette is to relive the great revolution that unleashed the forces that shaped ourmodern world.
