| Madame Dubarry | |
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 Ad for film, released in the United States asPassion | |
| Directed by | Ernst Lubitsch |
| Written by | |
| Based on | Memoirs d’un médecin 1848 novel byAlexandre Dumas |
| Produced by | Paul Davidson |
| Starring | |
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| Edited by | Elfi Böttrich |
| Music by |
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Running time | 85 minutes 114 minutes[1] |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | Silent film |
Madame Dubarry (U.S. titlePassion) is a 1919 German silent historical film of the life ofMadame du Barry. It was directed byErnst Lubitsch,[2] written byNorbert Falk andHanns Kräly, with the title role taken byPola Negri andLouis XV played byEmil Jannings. It was made at theTempelhof Studios inBerlin. The film's sets were designed by theart directorKurt Richter.
The plot is presented in seven acts.
Poor seamstress Jeanne Vaubernier works in Madame Labille's milliner's shop. She and student Armand de Foix are a couple, but Jeanne is not averse to flirting with the Spanish ambassador Don Diego. A sword fight breaks out between Armand and Don Diego, in which Don Diego is killed and Armand is arrested.
Jeanne becomes the lover of Count Guillaume Dubarry. When Guillaume is on the verge of bankruptcy because of their shared lavish lifestyle, he sends his lover with a petition to the king's minister, the Duke of Choiseul, who, however, refuses to pay the requested money. On her way back, however, Jeanne catches the eye of KingLouis XV himself, who chooses her as his mistress.
When Jeanne receives an insulting letter denigrating her relationship with the king, she demands redress, and the king decides to officially introduce her to court. Before doing so, however, she needs a noble title, so she marries Guillaume's brother, Jean Dubarry. AsCountess Dubarry andmistress to the king, she is now the most powerful woman in France. Armand, who was released from prison at her instigation and given a position as a soldier for the king, is appointed lieutenant in the palace guard at her behest. He witnesses how a group of people protesting against the king's mistress is dispersed at gunpoint and begins to detest the mistress, whom he has never met. He is horrified when he recognises her as his former lover. He leaves the palace and turns to his friend Paillet, a shoemaker with a small child and a sick wife. The family has nothing to eat because bread is becoming increasingly expensive and taxes are rising. A protesting crowd forms, led by Armand. They storm the bakery, and Armand is arrested by the king's soldiers.
The Duke of Choiseul makes it clear to Armand that Madame Dubarry has brought him to his misfortune. When Armand says that he would take revenge on her if he were free, Choiseul immediately releases him. A group of rebels forms around the shoemaker Paillet, with Armand initially leading the group. When he receives a visit from the disguised Jeanne, however, he swears not to harm her. The group of rebels goes to the king, but he collapses before their eyes withsmallpox. Following a spiteful remark, Madame Dubarry arranges for Paillet's arrest. The king dies of his illness, and Madame Dubarry is banished from the palace by the new king,Louis XVI.
Paillet's wife dies, and Armand promises her on his deathbed that he will free her husband. Therevolution begins, and the insurgentsstorm the Bastille and free Paillet. The king is expelled from the palace, and Madame Dubarry is betrayed by her slave,Zamor. She is sentenced to death by theRevolutionary Tribunal, presided over by Armand. Armand, who tries to help her escape, is shot as a traitor and dies in her arms. Madame Dubarry is executed on the scaffold byguillotine.
Madame Dubarry was filmed on the Ufa-Freigelände (open-air grounds), against the backdrop of theNeues Palais inPotsdam, and in the Ufa-Union studio in Tempelhof (Berlin).[citation needed] Censorship banned the film from youth screenings in July 1919. The film premiered on 18 September 1919, at theUfa-Palast am Zoo inBerlin; it marked the opening of this important Berlin cinema.[citation needed]
Contemporary critics praised the film:
Yes, the evening is best described as a tribute to Negri-Lubitsch. Lubitsch, who was already believed to be at the height of his powers as the director ofCarmen, has surpassed himself here and made everything he had achieved before forgotten in the face of this brilliant creation. […] Lubitsch is not one of, but "the" genius of film directing and undoubtedly the best we have today. Whether friend or foe, anyone who seesCountess Dubarry must admit that.
— Lichtbild-Bühne[3]
French critics were initially horrified that French history was being filmed by Germans so soon after the First World War ("The graceful and light era of Louis XV, revived by the sauerkraut gentlemen with their small, round eyes and their heavy bellies!"), but found that "the execution, apart from a few errors, is admirable."[4]
TheLexikon des internationales Films stated that "Lubitsch's popular, but rather careless handling of the subject [...] stood in macabre contrast to the revolutionary unrest in Germany in 1919."[5] Other critics emphasised that "Lubitsch proves himself to be a master of artful and grand arrangement in the crowd scenes."[6]
The film has been released on DVD.[7] In 2014, it was released on dual format Blu-ray and DVD as part ofthe Masters of Cinema series, accompanied byAls ich tot war (1916).[1]
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