Jeanne Du Barry

The French have a way with costume dramas, delving often lavishly into the history of the country while making contemporary parallels.

Maïwenn (the director of previous Cannes winner Polisse) spends her biggest budget to date (some 22.5 million dollars) on the story of Jeanne Vaubernier, a young working-class woman hungry for culture and pleasure, who uses her intelligence and allure to relentlessly climb the rungs of the time’s social ladder.

She becomes the favourite of Louis XV, who, unaware of her status as a courtesan, regains through her his appetite for life. They fall madly in love, and against all propriety and etiquette, Jeanne moves to Versailles, where her arrival scandalises the court.

A lot the money has gone on the settings and the costumes which (to be fair) are eye-catching. And many of the locations were authentically sourced including the actual Palace of Versailles.

With Maïwenn herself spiritedly taking the role of the courtesan and Johnny Depp enlisted to play the Monarch Louis XV, there should have been more sparks flying.

As it is, Depp makes a passable attempt at getting under the skin of the King and has mastered enough French to sound convincing, while Maiwenn clearly sympathises with Jeanne’s predicament of upturning the social conventions of the time.

As a visual feast it works well but the device of a sultry commentary narrating the events as we go along grates, as does the overbearing musical score by Stephen Warbeck.

The supporting cast give engaging support with Melville Poupaud pimping out Jeanne to the highest bidder, and the reliable Benjamin Lavernhe as the trusted valet La Borde with a knowing twinkle in his eye.

The last section of the film receives a much needed fillip in the observation of the rivalry between Jeanne and Marie-Antoinette, who is played by Pauline Pullman.

At the end of it all, however, viewers may be left with the distinct impression that an opportunity has been sadly missed.