Film Screening: Jeanne du Barry

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The discovery of the Cannes International Film Festival 2023, a costume drama by director Maïwenn about legendary courtesan Jeanne du Barry.

A biopic about the fashionable official favorite of the French King Louis XV, Jeanne du Barry. Jeanne’s origins were mysterious. She was alleged to be the love child of a Franciscan monk or to have come from a poor family. Her story is closely linked to the myth that she was a beauty and an extravagant femme fatale who exercised significant influence on one of the most notable rulers in Europe. High society hated her and plotted against this impostor who occupied a central place at court. In return, she looked down on the aristocracy and the king’s entourage.

Maïwenn rejected the idea of taking a position on Jeanne and her biography. She is not presented on screen as a victim of court intrigues and the policies of Louis XV or a fatal feminist figure who smashed stereotypes about women at court. Jeanne du Barry is a canonical historical drama, a film adaptation that sticks to historical facts without attempts at modernisation. This distinguishes Jeanne du Barry from Sofia Coppola’s punk drama Marie Antoinette, which inspired Maïwenn to make this film. She was touched by Jeanne’s fleeting appearance in that super-contemporary story that presented Versailles as something like the Hollywood Hills, where star status, outfits, and entertainment were the most important things for residents.

Maïwenn creates a more accurate impression of Versailles in the second half of the 18th century; its morals, ceremonies, and incredible material world. Jeanne, Louis, and their retinue are people who are irrevocably involved in the court system. Even Jeanne’s rebellious escapades cannot shake this monolithic construction. The only way out of this viscous, seemingly hopeless quagmire is the French Revolution, which will not spare any participant in this prolonged court spectacle.

The film will be shown in French with Russian subtitles.