Jeanne Dubarry: Johnny Depp is back to play Louis XV. It turned out doubtful
Miscellaneous / / July 24, 2023
Almost rom-com, but for historical reasons.
On July 20, the Russian premiere of the film "Jeanne Dubarry" took place.
The film is dedicated to the relationship between Louis and Jeanne Dubarry, a commoner and courtesan who became the favorite of the King of France. The daughters and entourage of the king did not perceive Dubarry as an equal due to her origin. But, despite all the difficulties, she remained with Louis until his death.
Maiwenn directed and starred. The role of Louis XV was played by Johnny Depp - this is his first big work after litigation with Amber Heard.
Romcom instead of historical drama
Jeanne DuBarry starts out like a standard period film, with beautiful costumes, forced curtsy, and royal opulence. But every minute the picture is more and more like a romantic comedy, just transferred to the 19th century. The relationship between Dubarry and the king sometimes looks like an affair between a boss and a subordinate: despite the general surroundings, there is no sense of grandeur.
If the relationship between Jeanne and king, then for humor - the way of the palace. The jokes are reminiscent of films like "King Ralph", where a random person is in power, but completely out of step with the status. Jeanne Dubarry behaves in the same way. Some rituals she simply cannot learn, and sometimes breaks them out of principle. Despite the education that Jeanne received in many ways herself, she is still a stranger in the palace, and more often this is the subject of jokes than drama.
Surface characters
It is noticeable how much sympathy Maiwenn has for Louis, and to Jeanne Dubarry, since they turned out to be completely romanticized. Sometimes their relationship resembles some kind of fairy tale or fantasy on the theme of "me and the king."
And yet the main characters came out empty. It is difficult for them to empathize, they speak in fairly standard phrases.
Louis is almost a saint, almost a Shakespearean hero who is sad on top of the world. At the same time, he never works in the whole picture - a subtle nature, he spends all his strength on love.
But Jeanne Dubarry is both a weak woman, and a feminist, and smart, and naive, and an ordinary courtesan for her time, and a fighter against racism. Apparently, Maiwenn wanted to give the heroine as much volume as possible, but in the end we got a character that cannot be characterized. She is everything and nothing at the same time.
But if at least work was done on the main characters, then the secondary characters came out quite bad. The daughters of the king stand out especially - they are more like sisters Cinderella cartoon than real people. Evil, stupid, envious, they cause maximum rejection. At the same time, the motives for their bitchiness boil down to the fact that they are simply from the royal family: this Louis can be “difficult”, such a privilege is not available to relatives.
Weird acting job
For most of the film, Maiwenn is lit up on screen with a smirk. It seems that only a sad ending can erase the smile from her face. Such frivolous behavior of the heroine affects the drama of the picture: when she cries, she looks unnatural. As if her perpetual smirk prevents her from taking other emotions seriously. At the same time, Maiwenn gives her heroine sexualitybut the script doesn't reveal it. It’s impossible to say for sure that the actress plays badly, everything just turns out out of place.
Well, Johnny Depp is boring. It seems that he is uncomfortable in this empty image, there is nowhere to roam. It feels like the dancer was forced to just sit on a chair: he would move, but he can’t. Depp is most well revealed in the image of eccentrics, Louis XV (in the interpretation of Maivenn) is definitely not like that. Even at 60 Johnny Depp too young to play the clumsy old man.
But the main problem of the actors is the lack of chemistry. Refusal of intimate scenes (even kisses are practically absent) and too insipid dialogues shift all responsibility on Depp and Maivenn, but there is no connection between them. For a drama about human relations, this is almost always a sentence.
"Jeanne Dubarry" looks like a failed attempt to combine historical drama and romantic comedy. But the lack of chemistry between the actors makes it difficult for them to sympathize, and jokes are unlikely to make the viewer laugh. Maiwenn tried to make a film that was both serious and light at the same time, but ended up being frivolous and boring. It is not surprising that the presence of Johnny Depp in it is much more interesting than his hero.
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