Direction: Maiwenn
Country: USA
Jeanne du Barry, a historical fresco directed, starred, and co-produced by Maiwenn (Polisse, 2011; Mon Roi, 2015), struggles to generate excitement. She shoots the over-the-top costumes and the exuberant Palace of Versailles with a sharp eye, however, the film is totally forgettable.
The narrative follows Jeanne Vaubernier (Maiwenn), a modest woman with aspirations of social ascent, as she becomes the mistress and favorite of King Louis XV (Johnny Depp). The scandalous romance might have shocked Versailles, but here fails to break free from the constraints of a tightly constricted period drama, resulting in a muddled storytelling experience. Sadly, the potential for vast dramatic possibilities is stifled by a squared and monotonous narrative.
With predictable plot contours, even the envy and gossip, expected in the French courts, are played too safe. Maiwenn manages to transform the manners and behaviors of the time into effective humor, but the film suffers from a disinterested, passionless performance by Depp, which contributes to the film's plodding pace. This way, the audiences are deprived from the engagement needed to appreciate its historical context.
The various parts of Jeanne du Barry are too uneven to form a decent whole, while the elegiac finale brings even more tedium.
