A new spring at the Berlin Film Festival

Farewell My Queen, a sumptuous costume drama about the beginnings of the French Revolution, opened the Berlin Film Festival on Thursday and had audiences drawing parallels with the Arab Spring uprisings.

The story, based on a novel by Chantal Thomas, is told through the eyes of royal servant Sidonie, played by Lea Seydoux, who becomes a close confidante to Diane Kruger's Marie Antoinette.

Antoinette sees her name at the top of a list of aristocrats the people want beheaded, and, resigned to her fate, puts all her efforts into saving de Polignac, even if it means sacrificing the faithful Sidonie.

"Any revolution, particularly this one is [against] an abuse of power and an abuse of money and that is still going on these days," Kruger said after the movie was screened to the press.

Its official world premiere comes later at a red carpet gala ceremony which opens the 10-day Berlin festival.

"All of history ... is resonant today, because we seem as people to be making the same mistakes," she told reporters, adding that despite the parallels, Farewell My Queen was not intended as a film about contemporary politics.

Director Benoit Jacquot also saw parallels between his movie and the downfall of once seemingly untouchable regimes.

"That in a sense is the very subject of the film," he said. "It all revolves around the end of a reign, and personally I find that end of a reign something positive and fascinating."

Walks down the red carpet may be brisk if snow and freezing temperatures in Berlin persist, but festival director Dieter Kosslick will be happy as long as the A-listers turn up and the festival generates the right kind of buzz.

Also important will be the health of the film market that has grown up around the festival, attracting movie executives from the world over looking to buy and sell titles.

Critics said the annual movie marathon was looking to add cutting edge to its selection this year by featuring several unproven directors in the main line-up.

Among the Hollywood heavyweights expected in 2012 is Meryl Streep, who will receive an honorary Golden Bear on February 14 when her latest movie The Iron Lady will be screened.

Angelina Jolie is due in Berlin with Bosnian war drama In the Land of Blood and Honey, while the cast of star-filled productions like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Haywire should add to the celebrity count.