Tag: costume drama

JEANNE DU BARRY – Review

Maiwenn as Jeanne du Barry and Johnny Depp as King Louis XV, in JEANNE DU BARRY. Courtesy of Vertical

Johnny Depp as France’s King Louis XV? Speaking French? Yeah, I want to see that. That was my first thought on French director/star Maiwenn’s JEANNE DU BARRY, her costume drama about the king’s scandalous commoner mistress in pre-Revolution France.

Expecting a lot of historical accuracy seems foolish for a film like this but entertainment and lush period details seem a a more realistic hope. So does it deliver?

Well, yes, it does. And Johnny Depp is pretty darn good too as King Louis XV, the French king in between the Sun King and the one who lost his head in the Revolution. Depp plays an older king, and the actor is about the right age for the role. Depp does speak French, having lived there on and off for several years, and his French sounds good, although director/star Maiwenn (she uses just one name) limits his dialog so as to reveal any American accent. However, the king isn’t the star of this movie – that role belongs to Maiwenn as the king’s mistress Jeanne Du Barry, also known as Madame Du Barry.

JEANNE DU BARRY is about the last mistress of the penultimate Bourbon king of France. King Louis XV (Depp) may really have loved Jeanne du Barry, and certainly he elevated her to a prominent place in the court, far beyond what any commoner could have dream of, much less one born out-of-wedlock and with a past as a courtesan. JEANNE DU BARRY leans into the love story and generally has splendid, enjoyable time with Jeanne’s unlikely story.

First off, the film does the visuals right. Lush costumes, wonderful locations (including Versailles) and wonderful period sets, all shot with lovely photography, as essentials for a costume drama and director Maiwenn gets all that just right. Maiwenn plays the grown-up Jeanne Vaubernier, later Madame du Barry, but the film starts with her as a young girl, the illegitimate daughter of a cook and mostly likely a monk. Her mother is the cook in the manor house home of a prosperous man, and her employer is fond of the pretty little blonde girl, and he pays for her education at a convent. In the film, Jeanne gets kicked out for reading racy novels but in fact, she just aged out of the school at 15, then considered the age when girls were considered marriageable age. With the girl developing into a beauty and now in their home, the lady of the manor, concerned about her husband’s interest in the teenager, fires her mother after falsely accusing her of theft, and mother and daughter make their way to Paris to live as best they can. Young Jeanne wants something more than life than being a cook like her mother and sets out to get it.

Of course, the film departs from facts more than a few times, mostly to make Jeanne appear more ahead of her time than she likely was, and perhaps more book-obsessed. Clearly she had to be smart, bold, and ambitious to get as far as she did, but she was also reportedly strikingly beautiful.

The real Jeanne reportedly was strikingly, an angelic looking blonde with ringlet curls and almond-shaped blue eyes. Little of that describes Maiwenn, who is also about twenty years older than the real Jeanne was when she met King Louis XV. But Maiwenn’s performance is bold and entertaining, and she commands attention when she is on screen. In the film, the young Jeanne became a courtesan in Paris, steadily trading up in her lovers. Through that work, she meets both Le Comte du Barry (Melvil Pompaud) who wants to mold her into a great courtesan moving in the highest social circles, and the elderly Duc de Richelieu, advisor to the King, who wants to introduce her to Louis XV. The king has been going though mistresses at a good pace, and Richelieu wants to find someone who can help steady the situation. Although the details of all of that are not entirely historically accurate, it’s close enough to serve this story and put us on our way.

When the two noblemen do arrange for Jeanne to meet the King, all beautifully dressed and properly made-up, of course, and escorted to court by du Barry. When he passes her in his procession through the line of nobles, the King seems taken with her. Depp plays this moment just right, keeping the king’s face still and dignified but allowing a longer pause and a direct. studying look at this new face. When the king sends for her, via his reliable courtier La Borde (Benjamin Lavernhe), all is discreet, but the king is quickly smitten with her, and wants Jeanne come live at court. That means she has to be the wife of a noble, as the king’s mistresses are required to be, and so a marriage to du Barry is quickly arranged (in reality, a marriage to his brother), so she can be at Versailles.

Having a connection like that to the King’s inner circle benefits du Barry, and a less-restless king has benefits for his minister Richelieu. In the film there is a scene where du Barry beats Jeanne but no there is no historical evidence of that, and despite that scene, Jeanne seems to remain on friendly terms with du Barry and close to his young son, who she regards almost as her own in the film.

Maiwenn plays Jeanne as a bold rule-breaker, who looks the king in the eye and flaunts the rules. But she is smart enough to know what the rules are, when to break them and when to follow convention, usually with a flourish. The movie has Jeanne dressing in men’s clothing and being a rather feminist figure. There is no historical evidence for that, although it does make for a fun movie. Other things that seem highly unlikely, like the King gifting Jeanne an African child, really did happen.

Johnny Depp (left) as King Louis XV and Maiwenn (center) as Jeanne du Barry, in JEANNE DU BARRY. Courtesy of Vertical

The French court had seen its share of mistresses, to the current Louis XV and his great-grandfather Louis XIV, and the court even had formal title for the recognized favorite. The king’s mean-spirited daughters (wonderfully played by India Hair, Suzanne de Baecque, and Capucine Valmary) disapproved of but tolerated others, but they were appalled by this particular mistress. Jeanne’s combination of low-birth and past history as courtesan was a step too far, even compared to past paramours like Madame Pompadour.

If Jeanne’s greatest adversaries at court are the king’s daughters, she does have a helpful ally in LaBorde, and to a lesser extent Richelieu. Early on, Jeanne is a bit more of a rebel than she is later in the film, but LaBorde helps guide her. Later, she becomes more sweet and caring, to the king and others in the inner circle. The film ends with a well-done deathbed scene, with Depp’s Louis dying of small pox with dignity and grace, and a post script sequence of what became of Jeanne afterwards.

There is plenty of glittering, gilt gorgeousness and Versailles pomp in JEANNE DU BARRY, enough to satisfy any fan of the genre. The film is well-made and well-acted, and does provide entertainment as a polished, pretty costume drama if an imperfect history lesson. The acting is overall very good, and Maiwenn comes on strong as Jeanne, filling the screen with high energy, although some of what the character does seems a bit far-fetched.

Strong supporting performances come from Pierre Richard as the elderly Richelieu and Melvil Pompaud as the often-smirking, always-calculating Comte Du Barry. As LaBorde, Benjamin Lavernhe is a standout. He does a fabulous job in this role, presenting the courtier as stiff and overly-formal at first, but gradually softening, developing layers of caring and even humor beneath his precise facade. He becomes a true friend to Jeanne as well, and at the end, even someone who offers a kind of comfort and a bit of human kindness towards the dying king, although still within the rules of his position.

JEANNE DU BARRY maybe overstates Jeanne’s case a bit as an intellectual bookworm or basically good-hearted soul but it does make for an enjoyable film. Certainly, the film focuses only on what is happening at court, and fully ignores the brewing storm of Revolution out in the streets where Jeanne came from. Nor does the film acknowledge that when Louis XV died, he was nearly as hated has his Sun King predecessor Louis XIV, although he had been popular at the start of his long rule. Two back-to-back hated kings helped set in motion the Revolution, and at the film’s end, we learn Jeanne’s fate in that too, having erased her commoner roots. Certainly, JEANNE DU BARRY has all the gorgeous bells-and-whistles of a fine, polished historical drama, and the fine acting increases the enjoyment and entertainment. But it also might leave one wanting to add a little “vive la Revolution” as all that is swept away.

JEANNE DU BARRY, in French with English subtitles, opens Friday, May 3, in selected theaters.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

NIGHT OF THE ASSASSIN – Review

Shin-Hyun Joon stars as Inan, in the South Korean action film NIGHT OF THE ASSASSIN. Courtesy of WellGoUSA

South Korea has been exporting a lot of high-octane action flicks in the past several years. They tend to emphasize hard-hitting stunts and gritty, dynamic fight choreography, largely eschewing the enhancements (or detriments) of CGI and fanciful wire work. That’s been consistently true for both period pieces and contemporary crime fare. This title, NIGHTOF THE ASSASSIN, led me to expect another dose of slam-bang action. The reality turned out to be more contemplative for much of its running time, before wowing viewers with the inevitable climactic battles in grand style.

In this pre-gun era costume drama, Shin-Hyun Joon stars as Inan who is a rural region’s top assassin – all business, efficient, no ideology or emotions. The film opens with his collapsing after another swift success, and learning that he has a life-threatening heart defect which can only possibly be treated with an extremely rare herb. His cardiac condition leaves him so fragile that he not only must quit his career, but even avoid vigorous sex. He wanders to a remote village, trying to hide his identity and live a peaceful life. He takes a menial restaurant job working for a widow (Lee Jung-Min) and the orphaned lad she’d adopted. Unfortunately, a large vicious gang brazenly rules the area, enabled by police and local officials who give them free rein to reign due to bribery and/or fear.

As must be the case in such movies, though Inan tries to remain anonymous, circumstances force him to respond to an imminent threat with his old skills. But it comes at a cost, since his heart keeps letting him down in key moments. The early going is slower, with more levity than expected, before the rest of the plot kicks it up several notches, with a slew of baddies presenting various types of menace for an exciting buildup to the epic final act. The fights are skillfully designed and performed in a package that’s more athletic than gory.

Inan’s flat affect serves well for establishing the persona of an emotional outsider with an evolving, underlying noble concern for the oppressed villagers around him. He’s got a code honor that means everything, including finishing whatever he promises to start. At any cost. The rest of the cast competently fill standard character slots on both sides of the law and economy. Writer/director Jeong- Deok Kwak only teases the action to come for quite a while before cranking out a bunch of genre-satisfying sequences, mostly wielding swords and knives skillfully. Not the start-to-finish thrill ride of many others, but a solid example of the first-rate camera and stunt talents finding steady employment in Korea.

NIGHT OF THE ASSASSIN (aka THE ASSASSIN), in Korean with English subtitles, is available streaming starting Friday, July 21, on Hi-YAH! and will be available on digital, DVD and Blu-ray starting on Aug. 8.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

EMMA. – Review

Anya Taylor-Joy stars as “Emma Woodhouse” in director Autumn de Wilde’s EMMA., a Focus Features release. Credit : Focus Features

There have been both TV and movie adaptions of Jane Austen’s novel “Emma,” about a meddling rich young woman whose confidence exceeds her abilities, including the popular 1996 Gwyneth Paltrow version, so one might wonder why make another. But the surprisingly funny new EMMA. gives a refreshing and enjoyable answer to that question. Starring Anya Taylor-Joy (THE WITCH, SPLIT), who many first saw in her breakout performance in the indie hit THE WITCH, director Autumn de Wilde gives us a new,take on this famous character, giving her more depth and a more contemporary feel while finding new humor in the tale, and all the while keeping all the old charm of Austen’s classic tale.

The film’s slightly winking, slyly funny approach makes it a thoroughly enjoyable experience. EMMA. (the dot is part of the title) has all fine production values, lush English countryside locations, gorgeous sets and period costumes one could want in a costume drama but director de Wilde’s different approach to the central character gives her more depth and believability, and even makes the character feel more modern while keeping the story firmly in its time period.

Pretty, rich and popular, young Emma Woodhouse has hardly had a troubling day in her life, as the dryly humorous titles tell us at the beginning of EMMA. She lives in a beautiful country estate in the lovely English countryside with her doting widowed father (Bill Nighy). Her father’s one request of her is that she not leave him by getting married like her older sister Isabella (Chloe Pirrie). Emma is happy to remain unmarried, seeing herself as her father’s caretaker and embracing her dutiful daughter role with relish and great confidence in her abilities. After successfully arranging an introduction that led to her beloved governess’ (Gemma Whelan) marriage to a wealthy local landowner Mr. Weston (Rupert Graves), Emma thinks she has found her role in life – as matchmaker.

For her next project, she turns her attention to Harriet Smith (Mia Goth), a pretty girl at a local boarding school, who is the “natural child,” polite society’s term meaning born out of wedlock, whose board and education are being paid for by her mysterious father, whose identity is being kept secret. Emma is certain the secrecy means the father is wealthy, maybe even noble, and she takes Harriet under her wing with plans to find her a better match than the local farmer (Connor Swindells) with whom she is infatuated.

Emma sets out to find a match within her own elite social circle, a group that includes a wealthy handsome young neighbor George Knightly (Johnny Flynn), who has practically grown up with Emma, a preening young local vicar (Josh O’Connor), and the often-absent son (Callum Turner) of Mr. Weston, who expected to inherit a fortune from a maternal uncle. Local society also includes a well-meaning, talkative older woman, Miss Bates (played with a brilliant comic flair by Miranda Hart), who was well-born but has fallen into poverty, and prevails on her previous social standing to stay on the edges of Emma’s social circle, while talking endlessly about her accomplished niece Jane Fairfax (Amber Anderson), much to Emma’s irritation.

Of course, things do not go according to plan. Emma’s good intentions and her overconfidence in her ability to fix things blows up comically, embroiling her and her social circle in a series of misunderstandings and boondoggles, often made worse by Emma’s efforts to fix things further.

Sure, it is farce at base, but director de Wilde and star Anya Taylor-Joy take steps to upend that and refresh this familiar tale. Rather than playing to broad comedy, the humor is a bit more tongue-in-cheek and sly, with the broader humor shifted to supporting characters.

Usually, Emma is played as a kind of idiot, a pretty, charming but egotistical rich girl whose meddling makes a mess of other people’s lives. Anya Taylor-Joy’s Emma is not dumb and not so much egotistical as naive, well-meaning and overconfident. She is a would-be do-gooder who in contemporary times might volunteer at a food bank or no-kill shelter with the certainty that she has the answers to just turning this thing around. By taking this approach to the character, director de Wilde and Taylor-Joy make her both more modern and take some of the “dumb blonde” sexist aspect out of the tale, without violating Austen’s classic tale. With Taylor-Joy’s fine performance, the misguided, well-meaning Emma retains her charm and innocent appeal as well as her meddling ways.

Taylor-Joy’s Emma has a mix of sweetness and naivete gives her an extra degree of charm as well as making her a more contemporary figure. The refreshed approach to the character helps reverse some of the sexist assumptions than underlie this tale, giving Emma and the other characters a more modern feel despite the costumes. It also allows the film to shift the comic exaggeration to the supporting characters, particularly the men, who in most versions escape comic skewering. In other versions, the male characters are the reasonable ones but here they are comically flawed, with human foibles and vain ambitions.

This refreshing, and funny, approach allows for both more character development for Emma and more comic space for the terrific supporting cast. Taylor-Joy does a great job of taking advantage of that room for character development, adding new depth and dimensions to Emma earlier versions lacked, while staying true to Austen and keeping all Emma’s charm. The play of complex emotion across Taylor-Joy’s face as she grapples with new insights into herself or copes with plans going awry lets the actor explore dramatic and comic aspects of the role without the usual limits. It is another performance that showcases the talent that Taylor-Joy showed in her breakout debut in indie hit THE WITCH.

The supporting cast also makes the most of new comic possibilities. Bill Nighy takes full of advantage of this, with his loopy Mr. Woodhouse, always on the alert for dangers like drafts and potential weather events, surrounding himself with screenings or refusing he leave the house. The mere mention of possible snow in an offhand remark at a dinner party propels him from the table mid-meal and sends him fleeing for his carriage, leaving his dutiful daughter Emma in his wake.

As the vicar, Josh O’Connor dives into with the most broadly comic figure, dressed in a series of exaggerated costumes, and preening, prancing and plotting with abandon. Miranda Hart who was so excellent as the tall, blushing, upper-crust midwife in BBC’s “Call the Midwife,” is another comic gem, with a hilarious motor-mouth character with equal charm. Johnny Flynn’s George is more the voice of reason trying to bring Emma down-to-earth when she goes too far, but Flynn still gets his chance at comedy bits, with a romantic comedy spin.

EMMA. is an entertaining romp with all the costume drama trimmings and a refreshing, funny new tack, which should please both Austen fans and more general audiences. All that makes it a good bet for a fun night at the movies,and a nice showcase for this talented cast. EMMA. opens Friday, February 28, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars