‘Making Marie Antoinette’: A Mother’s Love Letter to Sofia Coppola’s Genius Charms NYFF

“I enjoyed it, but I’m never doing this again. ” Sofia Coppola utters those words toward the end of “Making Marie Antoinette,” a feature documentary about the making of her 2006 film “Marie Antoinette” from her late mother, Eleanor Coppola. Playing in the Spotlight section of the New York Film Festival, the fly-on-the-wall doc is compiled from 80 hours of footage that Eleanor shot during the film’s busy production on location at the Palace of Versailles, capturing a young filmmaker coming into her own before our very eyes (as well as plenty of hijinks from stars Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman, who plays King Louis XVI and also happens to be Sofia’s cousin).

“Marie Antoinette” came out in 2006 to mixed reviews and modest box office returns, but is now regarded as a cult classic. During the film’s post-premiere Q&A at NYFF, Sofia revealed that the Coppola family were all gathered at their family home in Napa Valley when they decided to revisit Eleanor’s footage for the first time, and it brought back a rush of memories from her time making “Marie Antoinette.