Madame DuBarry

While more familiar with his better known late-20s all the way through to the 40s work, the best of which with the likes of 'Trouble in Paradise', 'Ninotchka', 'Heaven Can Wait' and 'Shop Around the Corner' are justly acclaimed, that is not to say that his early films are to be neglected. On the most part his early work, pretty much all of which being in German, is very interesting and well worth watching, 'The Doll' and 'The Oyster Princess' being standouts.

'Madame DuBarry' from 1919 is another one of his early films. It is intriguing for anybody that likes silent films and those in non-English (of which there are many, not just Lubitsch in terms of German silents but even more so early-Fritz Lang and FW Murnau) and it is worth a look with a fair share of obvious good things. But there are far better films from Lubitsch and is somewhat disappointing by his very high standards. Not just overall, but even from this period.

The production values are beautifully produced in the costumes and sets (especially the costumes). It is also beautifully and clever shot, namely towards the end, it's not refined on a visual front as far as Lubitsch films go but for me it's one of his better looking early ones. The score avoids being too intrusive or too syrupy, dangers with the kind of film 'Madame DuBarry' is.

Some compelling moments can be seen in 'Madame DuBarry' too. The mob scenes are big in scale, especially for a film dated from the late 1910s, and the final moments are very moving. Pola Negri's performance may not be subtle, but she is always a powerful presence and is affecting in the title role. Emil Jannings, one of the silent film acting greats, is typically formidable. The acting generally didn't feel static or histrionic and there is good chemistry between the actors. There are a few light-hearted moments along the way.

Regrettably though they don't come enough. Was not expecting non-stop wit and sophistication, 'Madame DuBarry' is not that kind of film (and anybody who has prior knowledge of her would know that too) and it was made at a time when Lubitsch was still finding his style, but it could have done with a lighter touch in places. It does feel a little too dark and serious generally.

Pacing can be a little too ponderous and too often it was a little too bland from the lack of character depth and emotion, excepting the mob scenes and conclusion. Lubitsch's direction is striking visually but on a dramatic front it's on the flat side.

Overall, above average but a long way from classic Lubitsch, early years and overall. 6/10

Another romantic historical film in the line of Carmen, Ernst Lubitsch adapted Memoirs d'un medicin by Alexandre Dumas and told the story of Louis XV's mistress, Madame DuBarry, bringing along his regular female star Pola Negri to lead the film. It's a story with a lot of moving parts and a lot of characters, but it has trouble managing all of that in the medium of silent film, leaving a lot to be explained in intertitles while juggling a large host of supporting characters that tend to look alike. There's a lot to admire in the film, but it has trouble reaching past the limitations of the silent medium to fully tell its story.

Jeanne Vaubernier (Negri) is a poor woman in pre-Revolutionary Paris with a job in a hat shop and a beau, Armond de Foix (Harry Liedtke). The single biggest problem in the film is probably the relationship between Jeanne and Armond. At the beginning of the film, we get a nice little scene of the two together, happily spending the afternoon until she needs to leave to deliver a hat. That plan is dashed when the Spanish ambassador, Don Diego (Magnus Stifter), nearly runs her over, destroying her hat, paying for the hat, and then becoming smitten with her and inviting her to visit him at the Spanish embassy. Presented with the opportunity to climb the unjust social ladder that was pre-Revolutionary France, Jeanne jumps at the chance, barely giving Armond much thought and dismissively leaving him behind as she goes into the embassy. There's no real sense of true love between Jeanne and Armond from the moment the ambassador shows up. I figured that Armond would simply not be very important to the narrative after she drops him, but he remains on the edges of the narrative until the final third of the film where he becomes extremely important.

Jeanne's rise in social status is driven by the Count DuBarry (Eduard von Winterstein) who meets her at the embassy and quickly becomes smitten with her as well, seeing a pretty girl that could potentially help him get out of his financial hole, preying on the weaknesses of the treasurer. When it doesn't work, though, he seems to be on the verge of casting her back out when she catches the eye of King Louis (Emil Jannings). I think you can tell how many characters are swirling around here, and it can be hard to differentiate between some of them since they all are running around in similar clothing and wigs.

Armond gets shifted to the very edges of the narrative when, at a party, he murders Don Diego and gets arrested for his crime. Sentenced to death at the same time that Jeanne is seeing her rise to power, she uses her favor with the king to grant Armond a reprieve. A little more than halfway through the film, we get an introduction to one of Armond's friends, Paillet (Alexander Eckert), a shoemaker, who must pay taxes in place of feeding his family. This look into the privation of the lower classes gets introduced really late, functioning oddly as a contrasting element against the opulent wealth of the upper classes that Jeanne is trying to join. It feels like Armond would be the ideal vehicle for that, but he spends a bunch of time in prison for a crime he definitely did commit.

Where the film really shines is in it's presentation of the spectacle of wealth in addition to some very accomplished large scale sequences like an early party and the later movements of the film after the kickoff of the French Revolution. The performances are also really good, especially with Negri at the center. Never dovetailing into the clutching of chests, there are a bevy of naturalistic performances that carry real emotional weight, especially from Negri as the world around her begins to collapse.

I get the purpose of Jeanne's torn loyalties, on the one side to her poor fiancé that she helps along in his military career as she rises in stature and on the other her need to look after herself in an unjust system, using her few resources as best she can. The problem, again, is really just that the actual connection between Jeanne and Armand isn't that well built and even feels like Jeanne doesn't really care for him all that much for long stretches. Instead of looking torn between her dual loyalties, she jumps at the chance of advancing herself, only reaching out to help Armand when he's about to be executed. She could have also taken him into her confidence early, but she's dismissive of him instead. This is an issue with the writing but also the limitations of silent films. In a sound film, we'd get dialogue scenes between the two that would be more solid building blocks than a few seconds of Jeanne sitting next to Armand on a couch. That limitation around dialogue also makes the film more opaque, especially in its overreliance on intertitles to give the story's details, most frustrating when we see the same note three times.

Still, it's a mixed bag. The performances and physical production are top rate, but the storytelling needed a new approach in the silent era that less relied on dialogue and told its story more fully through visuals. It seems obvious at this point early in Lubitsch's career, though, that his greatest successes are lighter, wittier fare.

Follows the rise and triumph of Madame DuBarry as she sleeps and teases her way from a worker in a millinery shop to King Louis XV's mistress and to Countess (at least in name). The final scenes showing her condemnation and execution during the French Revolution look like an afterthought.

A heavy historical spectacle, though the cast of thousands mainly is around for the Revolution scenes.

Pola Negri is the main bright spot and she can be quite enchanting when shy tries (mainly during the first third of the picture).

Why it was banned in France is unclear, though none of the major characters are very sympathetic.

Has little of the Lubitsch touch.

This early effort by Lubitsch is disappointingly heavy going, lacking the famous light touch of his later films. This is full on melodrama with little sense of fun, or history, as it tells the story of Louis xv's lover. Apparently this film caused a sensation when, re-titled "Passion", it was released in the USA. It also established its star and director on the international scene. It's very hard to understand why.

Negri and Jannings are quite good in the lead roles but are given few opportunities to shine. The camerawork is stilted and there is little in the way of visual interest, despite some large crowd scenes and lavish sets and costumes. It's all rather dull.

The print I saw ran at 110 minutes, with a relentlessly heavy music score, and was badly washed out. This made it quite hard to distinguish some of the characters as their powdered wigs changed them into white blobs - and some of the overly long letters were unreadable.

Like Norma Shearer's MARIE ANTOINETTE almost twenty years later, this is an attempt to tell a rags to riches tale set in the last years of the French aristocracy. We see Jeanne rise from milliner to mistress of all who would have her, finally married to her protector's brother so she could become the king's favorite. Negri and Jannings do well as Du Barry and Louis XV but this is no intimate drama so it lacks character development and depth. Jeanne, it seems, is ever faithful to her first love, the student, Armand, and looks out for him unbeknownst of course, only to be shamed when he learns who his benefactress really is. So like a man!

Negri is early in her career and far from the subtle actress she would later become. She is so heavily made up that she is often rather grotesque. Jannings always pulls off a characterization with professional aplomb but here he has little to do until his death scene, where he pulls out the stops. There is a lot of posturing and it tries quite well to give us a history lesson - although it succeeds, it is dullsville along the way.

The lavish and elaborate art direction is worthy of award consideration. Don't seek this out unless you are a fan of the two leads, the director or the subject matter.

Note: that same year Lubitsch would "go mad" and find his niche with the delightfully funnny OYSTER PRINCESS. While that film is also worthy of art direction honors, it is Lubitsch's marvelous directorial touches that deserve as high a consideration.