Marie Antoinette’s critics, toward the end of her life, didn’t just call her rich and clueless—they hissed that she was an Austrian lesbian slut. In particular, they accused her of carrying on with Gabrielle, the Duchess of Polignac. So this big-screen adaptation of a historical novel, in which her lesbianism is the rule and nothing out of the ordinary, is a satisfying twist on a virulent form of real-life persecution (that still persists). The action is uncharacteristically warm and close for a period piece; no actor is a mannequin. Fans of French film, history, Marie, or lesbian love: rejoice. (See Movie Times)