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Madame Du Barry
1919 Historical / Drama
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Credits
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Director: Ernst Lubitsch
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Script: Norbert Falk, Hanns Kräly
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Photo: Theodor Sparkuhl, Kurt Waschneck
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Cast: Pola Negri (Madame Du Barry),
Emil Jannings (Louis XV),
Harry Liedtke (Armand De Foix),
Eduard von Winterstein (Count Jean Dubarry),
Reinhold Schünzel (Choiseul),
Else Berna (Graefin Gramont),
Fred Immler (Richelieu),
Gustav Czimeg (Aiguillon),
Karl Platen (Guillaume Dubarry),
Magnus Stifter (Don Diego),
Paul Biensfeldt (Lebel),
Willy Kaiser-Heyl (Oberst der Wache),
Alexander Ekert (Paillet)
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Country: Germany
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Language: German
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Runtime: 113 min; B&W; silent
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Aka: Passion
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Summary
Jeanne, a young Parisian milliner, gives up her beloved Armand to start
an affair with the nobleman Du Barry and begin a career as a
courtesan. King Louis XV decides to take her as his mistress, but
first she must have a title, so she marries the brother of
Du Barry. As Madame Du Barry, Jeanne becomes the most powerful
woman in France, but she is resented by the ordinary folk of
Paris. Her greatest enemy is her jilted lover Armand, who has
every intention of destroying her if he can. In the revolution of
1789, he has the opportunity to do just that...
Review
Mention the name Ernst Lubitsch and most people immediately bring to
mind the director’s energetic, highly entertaining romantic comedies of
the 1930s and 1940s. But there is another Lubitsch who, early in
his career, made several big budget silent epics, of which Madame Du
Barry is one of the most memorable. The film stars two of
Europe’s leading actors at the time, Pola Negri and Emil Jannings,
playing respectively the ill-fated Madame Du Barry and King Louis XV of
France.
The film has been condemned for its obvious historical inaccuracies,
with events which took place over several years appearing to happen in
a matter of hours - for example, the death of Louis XV is almost
immediately followed by the storming of the Bastille. Lubitsch’s
intention is clearly not historical accuracy but rather to tell, in the
manner of a Greek tragedy, an intimate story recounting the remarkable
rise and fall of one of the most well-known victims of the French
revolution.
Whilst the film is perhaps somewhat weak when it comes to
characterisation, with several characters poorly delineated, it has
production values which are exceptional for a film of this era.
The eye-catching lavish sets and stylish cinematography come close to
matching the excellence of D.W. Griffith's historical
masterpieces. Most impressive are the spectacular final
sequences, which convey a real sense of France descending into bloody
anarchy as Madame Guillotine claims her most glamorous victim. No
contemporary French filmmaker would dared to have portrayed the French
revolution in such a vividly negative light, in a way that draws a
clear parallel with the recent Bolshevik uprisings in Russia.
© James Travers 2008
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