In Farewell My Queen (2012), director Benoît Jacquot uses variations in camera shots and lighting techniques to convey the difference in social class and the change in mood throughout the film. A recurring motif that distinguishes the royal class from the common people is camera movement. At the beginning of the film, there are rapid transitions and images move quickly from one character to another. Rapid horizontal panning shots follow Sidonie as she moves across the room and the camera appears to lack stability in its movements. Suddenly thereafter, the shots become much steadier and the camera movements more stable as the vertical and horizontal panning shots present a panoramic view of the palace. Instead of moving with the characters, the camera stays in one place while the fanfare parades through the palace. In contrast to this, the scene that follows immediately after has the immediacy of a handheld news camera as Sidonie sprints past the trees on her way to the palace. Another notable example that differentiates royalty from common people can be seen in the Handmaids' interactions with and around the Queen. The Handmaids can be heard speaking when they are out of frame and the focus is on the Queen. These voices do not seem to matter to the Queen and remain ignored, showing that only the characters the Queen can see (i.e. who are in the frame) matter and the others have no significance . Likewise, effective use of lighting also helps differentiate the characters. both classes. Jacquot uses bright lighting in interior scenes and in the courtyard to express the opulence and superficial serenity of the royal family. On the contrary, cameo lighting is used in the quarters where Sidonie sleeps where a small window...... middle of paper......work to tell the story in a natural and realistic way. The cast is largely female and there are recurring vertical pan shots scanning cleavage throughout the film; subtly hinting at a lesbian storyline that would otherwise be perceived as friendship. The costumes of the females close to the queen are overall flesh-revealing and point slightly towards the queen's sexual desires for the females around her. The casting of the queen, played by Diane Kruger, also gets attention. At the time of the events depicted in the film, Queen Marie-Antoinette was almost 34 years old. Kruger was 35 years old when this film was made. The queen was Austrian; and Krugar is German. Krugar speaks French fluently but the simple fact that she is not French represents her as a foreigner to the French people and in this context makes her appear vulnerable before even uttering a word..