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Coppola Thrilled By Versailles Freedom.

20 September 2006

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Coppola Thrilled By Versailles Freedom.... Movie-maker Sofia Coppola was thrilled to be given the keys to the Palace of Versailles in France for the filming of Marie Antoinette, because it meant she could shoot eerie scenes in the very rooms where they took place 220 years ago.Certain restrictions were placed on the director and her crew, but she was allowed to film wherever she wanted, allowing her to shoot Marie Antoinette's wedding scenes in the chapel where the French queen wed Louis Xvi.Coppola says, "It was thrilling to shoot in the place where many of these events actually took place and they (authorities) gave us remarkable freedom."They actually let us park our trucks right in front of the palace and keep our camera equipment in Marie Antoinette's bedroom."We were able to shoot Marie Antoinette's wedding in the real cathedral where she was married and, at the end of the film, we were able to shoot the scene where she goes onto a balcony with the mob below where it actually happened."To be able to recreate these remarkable moments in the real places where they happened was a very spooky and unique experience."But the restrictions imposed on the crew at Versailles did pose some problems.Production designer Kk Barrett explains, "In some rooms, we couldn't open the blinds because just exposure to sun could destroy the colour in the fabric and/or cause it to start to disintegrate.

"We also couldn't use any of the furniture in Versailles, which we immediately respected, but it meant we had the task of finding and bringing in our own furniture that would be competitive with the scale of what was already on the walls, which was pretty daunting."

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