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The latest film by director Maïwenn will open the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday May 16. The director also holds the title role of “Jeanne du Barry”, to tell the rise and fall of the favorite of Louis XV.
The film could have been called Thunderbolt at Versailles. But Jeanne du Barry, by Maïwenn, is not a rose water romantic comedy. The director revisits the extraordinary destiny of a courtesan, pushed by her pimp husband into the bed of King Louis XV. Against all expectations, the king makes this libertine, daughter of nothing, his favorite, causing a scandal at court. At the same time director, actress and co-producer, Maïwenn has matured this film for 17 years.
A mirror role
Fascinated by the real Countess du Barry, she offers herself a mirror role, which in certain aspects joins her own life. “I stopped school at a very young age, I loved an older man, of power, I very young faced the jealousy of the world (…)”, comments the latter. Shot on film, the film recreates the customs of the court with a wealth of detail. Maïwenn worked within the Palace of Versailles (Yvelines) on Monday, the closing day. “She wanted each extra to be believable, for all the sets to be sumptuous”says Melvil Poupaud.
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