When I first heard about Jeanne du Barry, the sumptuous and extravagant French epic about the infamous, powerful but rarely mentioned final mistress of King Louis XV, with author-actress-writer-producer Maïwenn as the director and—hold on to something for balance—Johnny Depp as the king…the temptation to laugh out loud stretched from here to deadline. But truthfully, to my surprise, he does nothing wrong as the unconventional monarch, and there are even scenes when he emerges subtly poised, understated and dramatically triumphant. Best of all, he honors the fact that this is not a film about him, but about the love and devotion of an impoverished woman with no breeding and no social identity who, for a time, became the most powerful female figure in 18th-century Europe.
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JEANNE DU BARRY ★★★(3.5/4 stars)
Directed by: Maïwenn
Written by: Maïwenn
Starring: Maïwenn, Johnn Depp
Running time: 106 mins.
Madame du Barry has appeared as a character in other films about the French Revolution and was even the subject of a Cole Porter musical at MGM starring Lucille Ball. But what do we really know about her? Maïwenn has spent years hell-bent on unveiling her at last, distilling the obscured........