The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (The Criterion Collection)
by Roberto Rossellini
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: André Dumas, François Bernard, Maurice Barrier, Pierre Barrat, Raymond JourdanDirector: Roberto Rossellini
Brand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-01-13
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion Collection
Movie Reviews of The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (The Criterion Collection)
Movie Review: Fascinating, difficult, intellectual, dry, immensely watchable...
Summary: 5 Stars
This was one of Rossellini's first TV films, shot for French TV near the end of his career. Rossellini has been the least of my favorite filmmakers from Italy, not because he isn't talented, but I just never got into his films like I did the other famous Italian filmmakers. But after having viewed this film (and his subsequent TV work), I respect him much more, and these later films are my favorites of his work.
This film, shot for French television, is a cousin to Rossellini's historical films of the Enlightenment (The Age of Medici, Cartesius, and Blaise Pascal). This may be the best out of all four of those films. It's the most visually opulent of the four films, with stunning costumes and set design, and photographically it's beautiful. That's quite astounding considering it was shot on 16mm film, which doesn't age very well. Kudos to Criterion for restoring it well. While the performances in the Italian TV films were mostly perfunctory, in this film they are livelier and more interesting. It could be because Rossellini was working with direct sound (something he never did in his Italian films), and the performances are enriched because of that. Jean Marie Patte, who plays the king, is stiff at times, obviously reading from cue cards in a few scenes. Rossellini gave his actors their lines just before they shot, and had cue cards on the set if they couldn't remember, so it's not all Jean Marie's fault. It's a bit distracting, but it doesn't detract too much from the overall experience of the film.
There are some striking scenes in the film, one near the end film in a garden, and when a key rival of Louis is arrested. The courtoom intrigue is absolutely fascinating. There are also surprising parallels between today's world and the world inherited by Louis XIV. It's also fascinating to see Louis mature from a shy, spoiled, hedonisitic person to a mature, solid, and shrewd politican/king.
It's also unnerving to see doctors at the beginning of the film tend to Mazarin who leaves his fortune to Louis (the doctors, learned men of their time, bleed Mazarin in hopes of healing him. They also smell his chamber pot). The film is very dry, talky, and intellectual, so if you're expecting an HBO series that's occasionally historically accurate but shows gratuitous sex just because they can, you should skip this (even though they are funny scenes in the film dealing with sex). If you adjust to the rhythms and sensibility of The Taking of Power by Louis XIV, it's absolutely fascinating stuff.
Summary of The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (The Criterion Collection)
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