By Dave Montalbano
AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com
Madoff and Scott Rothstein … three mega millionaires whose fall from power became a public spectacle. As history often reminds us, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Two films, Farewell My Queen and Queen of Versailles, open tomorrow that explore that famous George Santa-yana’s historical quotation, but with a humane perspective.
Farewell My Queen is taken from the perspective of Sidonie Laborde (Léa Seydoux), the Lady-in- Waiting to Queen Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger). The Queen and the maiden share a love of reading saucy books from the royal library. With an emphasis upon fantasy, these two overlook neighborhood poverty and that dead rats are floating up the river. After the storming of the Bastille, the Queen’s decadent reign starts to crumble.
A French movie with English subtitles, Farewell My Queen has a touch of Upstairs/Downstairs and Downtown Abbey. For history junkies, this film presents Castle Versailles with glorious cinematography. As the queen who suffers from attention deficit disorder, Diane Kruger provides a grand performance, mixing public generosity with acute selfishness. Farewell My Queen is a beautiful downer.
The Queen of Versailles is closer to home, Orlando actually. The film opens with construction of 90,000 sq. ft. home, modeled after Castle Versailles. Westgate timeshare mogul David Siegel is building this palace for his trophy wife Jackie because he can afford to do so.
However, when the stock market collapses in 2008, Siegel can no longer do the things he wants to do. As David struggles to keep his empire afloat, Jackie is clueless about her financial peril.
As the modern Queen of Versailles, Jackie is presented as a loving mother with one adoptive child, many dogs and exotic pets. As David becomes more stressed over his financial woes, Jackie cannot grasp the concept of potential poverty.
Unlike the devious qualities of Helmsley, Madoff and Rothstein, the most scary aspect about The Queen of Versailles is how one can relate to the Siegels; they can be a family member or a neighbor. As Farewell My Queen and The Queen of Versailles remind us, pride before a fall is a human characteristic.
