{"id":18691,"date":"2023-08-30T23:14:38","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T03:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=18691"},"modified":"2023-08-30T23:14:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T03:14:38","slug":"the-cannes-festival-opener-jeanne-du-barry-a-period-drama-that-instills-authenticity-and-humanity-in-the-historical-figure-that-inspired-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=18691","title":{"rendered":"The Cannes Film Festival Opener “Jeanne du Barry” : A Period Drama That Instills Authenticity and Humanity In The Historical Figure That Inspired It"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Franco-Algerian actress and filmmaker Ma\u00efwenn, brings to the silver screen \u2014 as director and leading actress \u2014 the story of Jeanne B\u00e9cu, Comtesse du Barry, the last ma\u00eetresse-en-titre<\/i> of King Louis XV of France.<\/p>\n

Jeanne du Barry<\/i><\/b> was presented Out of Competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and has portentously completed the picture of a historical figure that was brought to the big screen ever since the silent era, with the 1915 movie DuBarry<\/i><\/b> directed by Edoardo Bencivenga. Other glorious adaptations include Orson Welles\u2019 1949 Black Magic <\/i><\/b>with du Barry played by Margot Grahame and the 1943 musical comedy DuBarry Was A Lady <\/i><\/b>with Lucille Ball playing the unruly courtesan. In Sofia Coppola\u2019s Marie Antoniette<\/i><\/b> Madame du Barry is played by Asia Argento<\/a> and there is a blatant connection with Ma\u00efwenn\u2019s motion picture: the Dauphine of France refuses to meet or speak with Jeanne until the day she finally tells her \u201cThere are many people at Versailles today.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n

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The filmmaker of Mon Roi <\/i><\/b>and Pardonnez-moi<\/i><\/b> retraces the entire life of her heroine. Jeanne Vaubernier was the illegitimate daughter of a cook, Anne B\u00e9cu (Marianne Basler), and a friar. When Jeanne was a child her mother was hired by Monsieur Billiard-Dumonceaux (Robin Renucci), who became fond of the little girl\u2019s education. She was thusly sent to the Convent of Saint-Aure where she nurtured her curiosity for learning, also by reading erotic tales that lead her to being sent away from the chastising religious community. Jeanne and her mother were also evicted from Monsieur Dumonceaux\u2019s household, after being unjustly accused of theft by his wife.<\/p>\n

The young woman soon learnt how someone with a low birth and free-spirited mind could benefit from her beauty and charm, transforming her libertine inclination into a tool of survival. Jeanne for sometime was a prostitute until Guillaume du Barry (Melvil Poupaud) and Richelieu (Pierre Richard) decided she had the potential to become the courtesan of the sovereign. Jeanne\u2019s first encounter with Louis XV evokes the ball scene of My Fair Lady<\/i><\/b>, as the mission to have his approval is accomplished. Eventually she succeeded in becoming the King\u2019s favourite once she was wed to du Barry. However, her humble background caused her to be shunned by many, including Marie Antoinette (Pauline Pollmann) and the King\u2019s daughters: Ad\u00e9la\u00efde (India Hair), Victoire (Suzanne de Baecque<\/a>), Sophie (Laura Le Velly<\/a>) and Louise (Capucine), although the latter eventually showed a more compassionate attitude. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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As the King\u2019s ma\u00eetresse d\u00e9clar\u00e9e,<\/i> Jeanne was the centre of all eyes at court and was free to give wave to her eccentricities, such as keeping her hair down or wearing men\u2019s clothes. Yet once the King contracted smallpox and died she had to leave Versailles and stay in a convent for a couple of years, until the Dauphin (Diego Le Fur) \u2014 who had become the new monarch \u2014 granted her permission to return to the Ch\u00e2teau de Louveciennes, the mansion that Louis XV had gifted her during the course of their affair. The irony of Jeanne\u2019s life is that during the outburst of the French Revolution, despite her underprivileged origins, she was associated with the aristocrats she had entertained during\u00a0 <\/span>her adult life and \u2014 just like Louis XVI and Marie Antoniette \u2014 was executed by guillotine.<\/p>\n

The chemistry between Ma\u00efwenn, as Jeanne, and Johnny Depp, as Louis XV, is exceptional also thanks to the subtle screenplay written by the director together with Teddy Lussi-Modeste and Nicolas Livecchi. There are some instants that show a spontaneous understanding between the King and his courtesan as they enjoy mocking the pomp of the royal etiquette. The most exquisite moment of affinity is when Louis XV asks his faithful\u00a0 <\/span>assistant Jean-Benjamin de La Borde (Benjamin Lavernhe), to have his courtesan watch his morning routine from a two-way mirror.<\/p>\n

Ma\u00efwenn further enhances the sensitivity of this woman through her maternal instincts, that are channeled towards Adolphe (Thibault Bonenfant) \u2014 Guillaume du Barry\u2019s son \u2014 and Zamor (Ibrahim Yaffa and Djibril Djimo), the young Bengali slave she received as a gift from the King.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The film sublimely conveys the French grandeur of the court of Versailles \u2014 with its mesmerising set designs by Angelo Zamparutti and costumes by J\u00fcrgen Doering \u2014 as well as its customs that nowadays are rightly considered heinous. Ma\u00efwenn chronicles history as it happened with audacity \u2014 avoiding the Bridgerton<\/i><\/b> phenomenon of soul-washing \u2014 and portrays in its entirety the inhumane practices of 18th<\/sup> century France, while showing the will of a woman of that time to contrast them.<\/p>\n

Ma\u00efwenn\u2019s period drama is an effective reconstruction of the Reign of Louis the Beloved <\/i>(le Bien-Aim\u00e9<\/i>), while at the same time bringing forth some very modern themes in terms of breaking the labels imposed by society.<\/p>\n

Final Grade: B+<\/p>\n

Check out more of Chiara\u2019s articles<\/a>.<\/p>\n