Jeanne du Barry 4K 2023

Poor girl Jeanne was destined for a difficult life. Being from a simple class, her maximum achievement in life would be to work as a seamstress. However, being determined and very beautiful, possessing a natural talent of seduction, she quickly attracted the attention of representatives of the upper class. Dreaming of wealth and social status, Jeanne married Count Dubarry. And now, already being milady, she is presented to the court, where she has a chance to become the very first favorite of Versailles. However, the price for the king's attention will be very high. Is she ready to pay it?

Maiwenn is known to us as an actress and director with very fine, real taste. Without trying to pretend to "Hollywood gloss", she creates original and truly French love stories. And so it was with "Jeanne Dubarry". Before us is not a grandiose and lavish action, where the main stories are lost in a kaleidoscope of balls and epic battles, and we witness a true love story, which, as in life, is fraught with various difficulties and inevitable payback. The fatalism of the relationship between the King and yesterday's courtesan is visible to the naked eye. And we did not even have to show what intrigues not only Richelieu, but also all the courtiers were plotting against the lovers. We already understand how everything will end.

Nevertheless, the movie is very interesting to watch. What I love about historical dramas is that there are no spoilers. We know from the history books what will happen to the characters. In a movie like this, it's all about finding out HOW exactly it's going to happen. And Maiwenn has shown in an incredibly authentic, literate and sensual way how high the payback for love can be in such situations. Moreover, what sets this movie apart from other costume dramas? Here, for the first time, I saw the King and his Favorite as ordinary people: a disheveled king who admires his woman without paying attention to any conventions of his status; a woman in love who throws herself into the arms of her lover without fear of consequences and without thinking about self-interest or profit....

Johnny Depp and Maiwenn make an organic couple. In the moments of their love scenes, we believe that for them personally, there is no one else in their created world. They completely dissolve into each other, receiving feelings never before known. And Jeanne, who aspired to wealth and status, in a flash forgets all this in the arms of her first, last and greatest love in life. And the King, who has long since given a damn about the Kingdom and his future, is simply trying to enjoy what was inaccessible to any of his predecessors because of class conventions and status obligations.

Bottom line: "Jeanne Dubarry" is no "Marie Antoinette," "Barry Lyndon," or "The Favorite." It stands apart as a fascinating and not at all vulgar "sneak peek" into the royal bedroom, where, in the end, people of such stature appear to us as themselves with vivid and sincere feelings. Bravo!