- OFFICIAL SELECTION: Festival de Cannes (Opening Film) -

The lavish new drama from writer/director Maïwenn, Jeanne du Barry is freely inspired by the life of the rags-to-riches social climber, a working-class woman who became the mistress of King Louis XV, played with taciturn command by Johnny Depp in his first French-language speaking role. Pre-Revolution France: Jeanne Bécu (Maïwenn), the illegitimate daughter of a monk, hungers for culture and pleasure and is determined to escape her upbringing. With charm and wit, she builds a reputation as a skilled courtesan and her benefactor, the Comte du Barry (Melvil Poupaud) grows rich through her amorous encounters. Wishing to present her to the widowed King (Depp), a renowned womaniser, the Comte orchestrates a meeting. For Jeanne and Louis, it’s intoxication at first sight; she is soon anointed his new favourite. Unapologetically ignoring propriety and etiquette, with the help of his valet La Borde (a scenestealing Benjamin Lavernhe), Louis moves her into his Versailles palace, sparking scandal and jeopardising relations with the newly arrived Marie Antoinette... Shot on location at Versailles and featuring majestic costumes and production design, Jeanne du Barry is a visual feast for the senses. Maïwenn delivers an exuberant and sensitive portrait of class, ambition and both the rewards and risks of living in the public eye.