“Jeanne du Barry”, Maïwenn’s historic film, is being edited after an impressive shoot. In the cast: Johnny Depp in the role of Louis XV but also Pierre Richard, Melvil Poupaud, Noémie Lvovsky or Pascal Greggory.
Every morning, the same path. Four floors to climb in a pleasant courtyard along the Canal Saint-Martin. The elevator is stuck on the ground floor, the walls are bare, the stairs covered with tarpaulins, paint chips and adhesive strips. The decor lends to smile some days, others not. The work never ends, the building is being repaired and the film is under construction. On the top floor, Maïwenn, facing the screens, sinks into the depths of a vast brown leather sofa, her feet on a coffee table on which sits a miniature bust of the Comtesse du Barry. After the Christmas holidays, the mood is low water. “I’m not going to tell you it’s the Throne Fair…” The editing started two months ago and she has just shown a version of the film for the first time.
An anxiety returns that she knows perfectly well but does not know how to tame: “We are coming out of a few weeks of very pleasant agreement with the editor, the pressure rises suddenly, and it’s the bamboo blow… We never hear the criticisms we thought we were hearing. My own perception changes during the screening, I find myself no longer supporting things that I used to love, it’s extremely destabilizing. » It only opens the room to two people, the producer and a co-screenwriter. She used to look for other critics to accompany the reflection, she came back: “When opinions multiply, I can no longer decide, I no longer know where my tastes are, I feel devastated, I want to flee to the desert in Algeria…” Then the work resumes, the film regains its breath, too.
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