“The Rose of Versailles” came out in Japan in January, but was just released to international audiences through Netflix on Apr. 30. It was based on the 1972 manga series of the same name. It is the third adaptation of the manga after an anime series that ran from 1979 until 1980 and the 1979 live action film “Lady Oscar.” The film focuses on four central characters: Oscar, Marie Antoinette, Oscar’s love interest Andre Grandier, and Marie Antoinette’s love interest Axel von Ferson the Younger. While Marie Antoinette and Ferson are historical characters, Oscar and Andre are fictional.

In the film, Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, later known as Marie Antoinette, arrived in France to marry the Dauphin of France. Assigned to protect her was Oscar François de Jarjayes, who was a female but was raised as a male by her father who was disappointed in her gender. Eventually, the King of France dies, elevating his grandson Louis as the new King of France and Marie Antoinette becomes Queen Consort of France. Her status as an Austrian and her frivolous spending habits made her unpopular among the French people, who had to pay high taxes and faced starvation to fund the aristocracy’s lavish lifestyle. Throughout the course of the film, Oscar began to sympathize with the French citizens and desperately tried to convince Marie Antoinette to listen to them, but to no avail. As the years go on, the people’s anger grows and France appears to be on the brink of revolution.

One thing I liked about the film was how it did not villainize Marie Antoinette as history tends to do. She is usually depicted as a selfish queen who uses power and prestige to fund extravagant parties and clothing at the expense of her people’s suffering. However, the film shows that her spending was not the main reason for France’s financial problem and that it was a coping mechanism for her being married at the age of 14 to a man she was not romantically attracted to.

Another thing that I liked about the film was that they tried to input references to minor historical characters when they could. For example, Anne de Noailles, a usually forgotten historical figure who served as Marie Antoinette’s lady-in-waiting, has a scene all to herself at the beginning of the film explaining who Oscar was to the future queen. Additionally, Marie Antoinette’s three children, Marie Therese of France, Louis Joseph and Louis Charles, made cameo appearances spending time with their parents. I really appreciated their appearances as it shows that the production team of the film was taking the time to actually do research while creating the film.

However, I disliked how the film was advertised as focusing on four characters during this time period. Axel von Fersen, supposedly one of the film’s central characters, only appears in the first half of the movie, and Marie Antoinette only made minor appearances in the second half of the film. Andre’s plotline revolves almost entirely around Oscar, so I think that the film really only centers on Oscar. It was a disappointment for me as Marie Antoinette is one of my favorite historical figures, and I watched the film expecting her to be one of the protagonists.

I also disliked how fast paced everything was. The film starts off in 1770 and ends in 1789, so it jumps between years a lot. As a result, everything felt rushed, and it is hard to care about plotlines such as Marie Antoinette and von Fersen’s secret romantic relationship with each other when they barely have any time together. Additionally, Marie Antoinette’s story was tragic with her outliving two out of her four children, losing her status as queen, her husband and best friend being executed, her being separated from her children, and her being confined in a cell with no privacy. The film merely glosses over most of these elements unlike the TV series, and I didn’t really get a sense of sorrow over what happened to the French queen. While I understand that it is a film, I think that the manga’s concept worked out better as a TV series especially since the last “Rose of Versailles” film was not well reviewed.

While I do think that the film is worth watching, it is very average and doesn’t really evoke much emotion for me until the ending in which the tragic results of the aristocracy’s neglect becomes apparent.