Jeanne du Barry is a co-production between France, Belgium and the United Kingdom. It was produced by Why Not Productions and Depp's IN.2 Film, a European sister company to his L.A.-based Infinitum Nihil and is distributed by Le Pacte. With its budget of $22.4 million, Jeanne du Barry was one of the most expensive French films of 2023, one of only three French films with a budget over 10 million euros. The film had its world premiere as the opening film at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on 16 May 2023 and was released theatrically in France on the same day by Le Pacte, 15 months in advance of its scheduled streaming release on Netflix in France.
Premise
Jeanne, a young working-class woman hungry for culture and pleasure, uses her intelligence and allure to rise step by step to the highest levels of society. She becomes the favourite of King Louis XV who regains through her his appetite for life. They fall madly in love and, against all propriety and etiquette, Jeanne moves to Versailles, where her relationship with the king scandalizes the court.[8]
India Hair as Adélaïde de France, the King's eldest surviving legitimate daughter and his fourth overall, who dislikes Jeanne intensely.
Suzanne de Baecque as Victoire de France, the King's fifth legitimate daughter, who follows her elder sister's lead.
Capucine Valmary as Louise de France, the King's seventh legitimate daughter, to whom he feels especially close.
Diego Le Fur as the King's grandson and heir to the throne, later to become Louis XVI. In the film, he is only referred to as the Dauphin (the royal heir). Unlike his aunts and his wife, he respects Jeanne.
Pauline Pollmann as Marie Antoinette, the future Queen of France who declares herself Jeanne's rival after arriving from Austria to marry the future Louis XVI.
Erika Sainte portrays a younger version of the character at the start of the film.
Laura Le Velly as Sophie de France, the King's sixth legitimate daughter.
Robin Renucci as Roch-Claude Billard-Dumouceaux (written Dumousseaux in the film), a wealthy merchant for whom Jeanne's mother worked as a maid and who helped give Jeanne her education.
Ibrahim Yaffa and Djibril Djimo as Zamor, respectively as a child and a teenager, an Indian slave gifted to Jeanne by the King as a young boy, who Jeanne raises and educates.
Teddy Lussi-Modeste as Germain Pichault de La Martinière, the King's surgeon.
Luna Carpiaux and Marie Bokillon as Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, respectively as a teenager and an adult.
Stanislas Stanic as the narrator.
Production
Development
In an interview with Harper's Bazaar France, Maïwenn revealed that she had been wanting to direct a film about Madame du Barry since 2006, after seeing Sofia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette. She was particularly drawn to the character of Madame du Barry, played by Asia Argento, and soon after, started reading biographies about her. For the next ten years, Maïwenn played with the idea of one day directing a period film, whose protagonist would be Madame du Barry, remaining still very unsure about it, fearing that she would not be able to create a film comparable to others made on the subject.[9] After reading many biographies about du Barry and watching a lot of period films such as Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette and Albert Serra's The Death of Louis XIV, Maïwenn started creating the outline for her own film. She reached the conclusion that these three films, which she loves, have in common the fact that they use minimal dialogue.[9]
Maïwenn wrote the film with a French actor in mind, whose name she has not disclosed. When she presented the script to him after three years of writing, he declined in a matter of minutes, claiming, according to Maïwenn, that "cinema is dead" and that there was "only Netflix left". She then offered the role to another French actor, whose health problems prevented him from playing the role.[9] After this disappointment, Maïwenn was advised to create a list of actors she loves, no matter their origin. She did so, and the first actor on the list was an American, who seemed accessible to her, but was not interested. The second actor was Johnny Depp, who was sent the script at a time when Maïwenn had lost hope that the project would materialise.[9]
She first approached Depp and offered him the role of Louis XV before Christmas 2019. Without reading the script himself, Depp agreed immediately, after his assistant and friend, Stephen Deuters, who is also a screenwriter and producer, read it and fell in love with it.[10][9]After losing his libel trial against The Sun, in November 2020, Maïwenn was unsure whether Depp would still be on board for the project. She contacted him and found out that he feared she would not want him in the film after the trial. Maïwenn reassured him that the film would not continue without him and that he was the only person she thought could play the role.[10]
Principal photography started on 26 July 2022 in Versailles and other regions of Paris for 11 weeks.[15][16] On 10 August 2022, the first teaser image of Depp in the role of Louis XV was shared by Why Not Productions.[17] Filming wrapped in mid-October 2022.[15][18] On 1 November 2022, Wild Bunch International unveiled the key territories which had acquired rights for the drama. Another image of Depp in the role was shared on the same day.[19]
Maïwenn gave her first interview about the film to Le Journal du Dimanche on 31 December 2022. In it, she mentions that her staging for the film "is neither pop nor rock", unlike Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, but that she has taken liberties with it and that she is expecting "purists" to criticise her.[20] She further commented on Depp's ability to transform into a character, calling him "a real chameleon" who really likes transformation.[20] Regarding the dialogue and the fact that Depp was acting for the first time in French, Maïwenn commented that her film does not use dialogue extensively and that Depp's expressiveness was highly impressive to her, likening it to that of a silent film actor.[20][10]
For the first time in her career, Maïwenn decided to use 35 mm film cameras to shoot a motion picture, using Stanley Kubrick's film Barry Lyndon as a template for what she wanted to achieve visually.[21] Directing the film while also playing the role of one of its protagonists, Madame du Barry, was challenging for Maïwenn, who decided, at the end of shooting, that she never would again act in a film that she is directing.[21]
Financing and budget
In early January 2023, it was announced that the Red Sea Film Foundation was financially backing the film, with Saudi film producer and CEO of the foundation Mohammed Al Turki complementing the film and stating that it is an "incredibly unique and ambitious biographical feature and a testament to our commitment to supporting new talent and collaborating with world-class writers, directors and producers".[3][22] Maïwenn and Depp were present at the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival, on December 1, 2023, for a special screening of the film and a Q&A session.[23]
On 30 March 2023, it was announced that Jeanne Du Barry was part of 33% of all the approved FIF films in 2022, which were either directed or co-directed by a woman and that it was one of only three French films with a budget of over 10 million euros. The budget of the film was announced to have been $22.4 million.[6]
Release
On 5 April 2023, it was officially announced that Jeanne du Barry would have its world premiere as the opening film at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on 16 May 2023, where it was greeted with a 7-minute standing ovation,[24] before being theatrically released in France on the same day,[25][26] 15 months in advance of its scheduled streaming release on Netflix in France.[27] When asked about his decision to choose Jeanne du Barry as the opening film at the festival, during an interview with Deadline on 13 April 2023, Cannes Festival Director Thierry Frémaux responded by saying that it is a "beautiful film", "a success" and that "Johnny Depp is magnificent in it".[28]Vertical Entertainment will distribute the film in the United States.[29]
Reception
Box office
The film initially opened in 650 cinemas across France, grossing nearly $4.1 million, from more than 550.000 tickets sold in the first two weeks, thus becoming the best showing in a decade for a Cannes opening-night film since The Great Gatsby in 2013.[30][31]
Critical reception
Jeanne du Barry received an average rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars on the French website AlloCiné, based on 34 reviews.[32] On Rotten Tomatoes, 49% of 41 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.9/10; the site's critical consensus reads: "Heavily coiffed and perfumed as to cover up its plebeian status, Jeanne Du Barry waltzes aimlessly through a noble attempt at vindicating its eponymous femme."[33] According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 51 out of 100 based on 13 critics, the film garnered "mixed or average reviews".[34]
Catherine Balle, writing for Le Parisien, gave the film 4.5 out of 5 stars writing that Maïwenn succeeds in a classic film but very contemporary and totally inhabited".[35] French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, writing: "The film strikes the heart with its tragic romanticism, lyricism and chiseled dialogues that convey a fierce modernity. Faced with the couple formed by Maïwenn and Johnny Depp, in osmosis, Benjamin Lavernhe recalls the extent of his talent."[36] Eric Neuhoff, writing for Le Figaro, gave the film 3 out of 4 stars calling it "brilliant, with the most pleasing effect". He added that Maïwenn "deserves the applause of the assembled court".[37]La Presse's Rana Moussaoui praised Depp's French and his expression, writing: "With an almost perfect French, Depp impresses especially with his facial, loving, amused or imperious expressions, throughout this film shot in several castles in France and in the studio."[38]Première's Thierry Chèze gave Jeanne du Barry 3 out of 5 stars, praising Maïwenn's direction and her and Depp's performance in the film, writing: "If Maïwenn seduces with her playful interpretation crossed by heartbreaking moments of Jeanne, Johnny Depp, with his charisma, his ability to say so much with a simple look or body movement, reigns over the film without crushing anyone." Additionally, he wrote that Depp's performance as Louis XV "will be remembered".[39]
Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "a subtle and well-crafted costume drama with plenty of satirical bite" and praising Depp's performance as Louis XV. Macnab wrote: "His Louis is a taciturn, melancholy but commanding figure with a dark side".[40]Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote that it is "an entertaining spectacle, only partly aware of its own vanity". He criticised the lack of credibility in the love story and opined that Depp would have better been cast as the lead.[41]The Times'Kevin Maher also gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, writing that it is "very occasionally too tasteful for its own good. But it's also mature and grounded".[42] In a positive review for Variety, Peter Debruge wrote that "Maïwenn taps into the emotional core of a most unusual relationship, such that we mourn how and why it eventually dissolves". Although praising Depp's French, he found him to not appear "engaged" in the role and "uncomfortable".[43] Ben Croll, writing for IndieWire, gave the film the grade B−, writing that "the film burns hot and bright — and quickly flames out".[44] Jo-Ann Titmarsch of The Evening Standard gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and was praising of the visuals, costumes and of Depp's performance, but criticised some of the other performances and the screenplay.[45]
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