What is it with movies about French monarchy?
For some reason, movies about the French monarchy, particularly the fall of it, tend to miss out on the bigger picture and feel like family drama that just happens to be set in Versailles. With some adjustments, these stories would work equally well in different settings and even have the same emotional impact they were going for.
It doesn't matter whether it is a Hollywood or European production, the problem remains the same. Jeanne du Barry suffers from the same lack of storytelling that plagued Coppola's Marie Antoinette. The wider social and political context is simply left out.
The budget doesn't seem to be an issue, as the sets and costumes are top-notch, however, we just fail to see the importance the main characters have outside of the court and their personal intrigues. This is a shame, cause if anything is interesting about the French monarchy, then it is how it affected common people, not their family troubles.
So, if we are optimists, we could say that Maiwenn (and Coppola for that matter) simply does not have the directorial capacity to tackle a more serious political drama. However, if we are pessimists, it easily comes off as the whitewashing of the French monarchy, particularly with the annoying narration that tries to provide the political context of the French Revolution and society at the time in two or three sentences.
You could say it was a romance movie and as such it didn't aim for a broader political message. But even if we watch it as a love story, it does not provide the context to make the romance believable. We never find out WHY the king is so smitten by Jeanne, other than her being a beautiful woman. But the kings in general tend to surround themselves with attractive women, so what is it exactly that makes this one stand out from the rest?
Jeanne's motivations are even more obscure despite her being the central character of the movie. She says she craves adventure but then settles for the most boring and life-draining routine of the court. She starts off as an opportunist with some moral compass, but that character development is dropped as soon as she meets the king and remains the loving wifey stereotype for the rest of the movie.
I won't spoil it here, but at one point, it seemed like there was going to be some falling out between her and the king, so we hoped to see a clever and cunning side of her character, but the very next minute the very same annoying narration "convinces" us that everything is fine and no one is an a$$hole there.
If you enjoy period costumes and aesthetics of 18th century Versailles, then this is an eye candy for you. Otherwise, it does not have much to offer.
It doesn't matter whether it is a Hollywood or European production, the problem remains the same. Jeanne du Barry suffers from the same lack of storytelling that plagued Coppola's Marie Antoinette. The wider social and political context is simply left out.
The budget doesn't seem to be an issue, as the sets and costumes are top-notch, however, we just fail to see the importance the main characters have outside of the court and their personal intrigues. This is a shame, cause if anything is interesting about the French monarchy, then it is how it affected common people, not their family troubles.
So, if we are optimists, we could say that Maiwenn (and Coppola for that matter) simply does not have the directorial capacity to tackle a more serious political drama. However, if we are pessimists, it easily comes off as the whitewashing of the French monarchy, particularly with the annoying narration that tries to provide the political context of the French Revolution and society at the time in two or three sentences.
You could say it was a romance movie and as such it didn't aim for a broader political message. But even if we watch it as a love story, it does not provide the context to make the romance believable. We never find out WHY the king is so smitten by Jeanne, other than her being a beautiful woman. But the kings in general tend to surround themselves with attractive women, so what is it exactly that makes this one stand out from the rest?
Jeanne's motivations are even more obscure despite her being the central character of the movie. She says she craves adventure but then settles for the most boring and life-draining routine of the court. She starts off as an opportunist with some moral compass, but that character development is dropped as soon as she meets the king and remains the loving wifey stereotype for the rest of the movie.
I won't spoil it here, but at one point, it seemed like there was going to be some falling out between her and the king, so we hoped to see a clever and cunning side of her character, but the very next minute the very same annoying narration "convinces" us that everything is fine and no one is an a$$hole there.
If you enjoy period costumes and aesthetics of 18th century Versailles, then this is an eye candy for you. Otherwise, it does not have much to offer.
- Phantasma_the_Black
- Oct 2, 2023