Watching the light grow darker as it filters through my Bronx apartment windows, I feel a warm, manufactured elegance. I’m burning a diptyque Valentine’s Day candle, I’m listening to Led Zeppelin 2, and I’m furiously scribbling notes in neon pink pencil about nothing. 

It is at this conjecture that I turn to the wall facing my bed and see Watteau’s late 18th century “Four Seasons,” printed on glossy 8.5x 11 sheets of paper. I love the period of rococo as it coursed through the French Revolution. 

I’ve included some edited screenshots from Sofia Coppola’s 2006 Marie Antoinette, a magical surrealist interpretation of the French Revolution. Kirsten Dunst stars as Marie, who begins as a loving Austrian teenager. The opening scene brims with pugs and soft smiles. Then, Marie is introduced to her husband, the sheepish and effeminate Dauphin (Jason Schwartzman). After King Louis XV dies, Marie and the Dauphin prematurely become rulers. It is with this newfound power that Marie indulges in every shade of pastel. The film is an absolutely stunning testament to the Rococo period. Attached are some of my favorite scenes.