Jeanne du Barry, first commoner and then countess, climbed from the humblest origins to the top of society and sneaked into the King's Court. She was the favorite mistress of Louis XV and became one of the most influential characters in the country.
Her fate was as exceptional as her life: she ended up guillotined in 1793, during the French Revolution, just two months after Queen Marie Antoinette. Jonny Deep's film, presented this week at the Cannes Film Festival, has resurrected the singular life of this woman, who contains every imaginable cinematic element.