It would be the last time he would be outside. The Death of Louis XIV. Whatever the movie's challenges for viewers, I'm grateful that Serra made it. and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango. If you like this kind of thing, The Death of Louis XIV is fascinating. The website's critical consensus reads, " The Death of Louis XIV will frustrate viewers out of sync with its deliberate pace, but those with the patience to settle in may be rewarded with a thoughtful, finely detailed drama." In Catalan art-house director Albert Serra’s dramatisation of the pampered monarch’s slow, squeezed death, the face of the French New Wave is a far cry from Alexandre. It is sparse in dialogue, heavy in mood, deliberately avoiding dramatics and sentiment unless it should rise in the viewer. Set almost exclusively in Louis' bedchamber, the film is both boring and riveting, grand and minimal. Facebook . If last year’s The Story of My Death managed to aggregate a few more followers of Serra’s singular indie style, the heavy historical drama The Death of Louis XIV will divide audiences since the prolonged cheerlessness related to the unhealthy state of the cited French king, who reigned for 72 years and died slowly of gangrene at 76, can be frustrating, gloomy, and distressing. It's unmissable. Watch the trailer for The Death of Louis XIV. He begins to die, surrounded by loyal followers in the royal chambers. Albert Serra. Not a surprise coming from Albert Serra, no stranger to icons, be they Don Quixote, the Three Wise Men, or Casanova. But The Death of Louis Xiv succeeds just enough on the pure terms of a formalist exercise, with mostly static shots in a series of rooms lit by candlelight as historical context seems to somewhat recede into the dark. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for The Death of Louis XIV [Blu-ray] at Amazon.com. Read full review This is less a re-creation of an historical event than a lament for the passing of traditional forms of cinema. But his performance is finally a magnificent stare into the abyss, a sustained contemplation of things we would rather not dwell upon but will ultimately have to face. 1. With a title like The Death of King Louis XIV, it's surprising just how funny Albert Serra's latest is overall. Sign up here. The Death of Louis XIV review – a fine royal farewell 4 / 5 stars 4 out of 5 stars. The Death of Louis XIV Review. Serra's representation of a king as prisoner within his own body neatly subverts the tropes of historical dramas about royalty. WhatsApp. Already having problems with his leg, King Louis is carried off into the castle, where the rest of the film will play out. All rights reserved. Here, his rotting body is draped in lace and silk, velvet and ruffles; his pale, papery skin loaded with powdery blush; a wig with the consistency of candyfloss his only visible crown. Dir. Copyright © Fandango. The Death of Louis XIV, which unspools in chronological fashion, first sees various members of the court ask Louis to join their parties and gatherings, which he politely refuses. Albert Serra imagines the event as though it were a slowly deflating balloon in a burnished Baroque painting, agonizing on all levels but also extraordinarily textured. Flashes of comedy soon give way to an atmosphere of quiet, inevitable tragedy. France, 2016, 105 mins. It's unmissable. La mort de Louis XIV is a 2016 drama, history film written by Albert Serra and Thierry Lounas and directed by Albert Serra. The lugubrious, dusky atmosphere encircling the story requires patience and nerve, but is also poised, touching, and mature. Recommended. Linkedin. ★★☆☆☆ In Ian Dunlop's biography of Louis XIV he describes the Sun King's death, saying that he "yielded up his soul without any effort, like a candle going out." Slow cinema maestro Albert Serra clearly didn't take to that notion when he decided to make The Death of Louis XIV.Louis is appropriately played by a… Albert Serra. By contrast, the filmmaker’s latest, The Death of Louis XIV, homes in on a concrete episode from 18th-century lore, … In "The Death of Louis XIV," writer/director Albert Serra shows us that monumental events can be conveyed through the smallest of details. Time Out says. Review by Josiah Morgan 2. Upon returning from a hunting expedition, King Louis XIV feels a sharp pain in his leg. Serra's sad, stately, haunting addition to the slow-cinema genre doubles up as both an intimate study of the Sun King's death and a requiem for Europe's fading arthouse scene. Back from hunting, Louis XIV (Jean-Pierre Léaud) feels pain in his leg. Livraison gratuite (voir cond.). June 20, 2016, 3:47 PM. Yet these flashes of comedy soon give way to an atmosphere of quiet, inevitable tragedy. The Death of Louis XIV will frustrate viewers out of sync with its deliberate pace, but those with the patience to settle in may be rewarded with a thoughtful, finely detailed drama. The Death of Louis XIV movie reviews & Metacritic score: Versailles, August 1715. It comes to all of us. Twitter. 4 out of 5 stars. When I think of Léaud, I think of him as Alexandre in Jean Eustache’s 1973 film The Mother and the Whore; louche, handsome, just shy of his 30s. The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer. he French actor Jean-Pierre Léaud is best known for his first major role in François Truffaut’s. Even if you happen to be the King of France, who's been reigning for 72 years. Sidney Poitier’s 7 Most Memorable Performances, All Harry Potter Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer. [Laud,] remembered by film lovers as the young prince of the Nouvelle Vague, certainly gets you thinking about mortality. ‘Louis XIV’ Review: The Sun at Its Zenith Josephine Wilkinson’s admiring biography of Louis XIV covers war and politics efficiently, but this is very much a personal biography. France, 2016, 105 mins. As its namesake suggests, The Death of Louis XIV hones in on the final days of France’s Sun King and chronicles his physicians’ attempts to save his life. Review: ‘The Death of Louis XIV’ Has a Riveting Performance at Its Heart Jean-Pierre Léaud in “The Death of Louis XIV,” directed by Albert Serra. and the Terms and Policies, Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. A monarch’s devotion to duty and service endures until the last breath in The Death Of Louis XIV, a painstakingly realised portrait of the agonising final days of the Sun King. The Death Of Louis XIV . The Death of Louis XIV. 4 out of 5 stars . 88% But there is the suggestion that he is so accepting of his status as a walking … Cocky spaniard Albert Serra returns with the wonderful The Death of Louis XIV and, to an almost comic degree, it abides by the promise of that morose title. Most … Albert Serra has earned himself the directorial moniker “the Catalan king of stasis”, and nothing in The Death of Louis XIV is going to dispel such a reputation – if anything, he has honed that characteristic approach further, concentrating this story of the declining days of the Sun King into a single royal bedchamber. In semiotics terms, the film is pure signifier, and therein lies the source of its strength. Get the freshest reviews, news, and more delivered right to your inbox! Serra is interested in the details of ritual, homing in on the visceral, audible squelch of chewed candy and lingering on the rosewater used to wash Louis’s decomposing leg, helped along by Jonathan Ricquebourg’s warm, candle-lit cinematography. Based on Memoirs of the Duc de Saint-Simon and the Journal of Marquis de Dangeau, both of which recalled the last days in Louis XIV’s life, Serra’s film stays mostly in the king’s bedchamber inside the Palace of Versailles as gangrene creeps up his left leg. Forgot your password? On August 9th 1715, the Sun King, Europe's longest reigning monarch, returned from a hunt pushed over rough terrain in a wheelchair. Complaining of pain in his leg, the King of France continued his duties, hobbling about, propped up on either side. With a title like The Death of King Louis XIV, it's surprising just how funny Albert Serra's latest is overall. In the final scenes,... the painterly mise-en-scene and cinematography - golden and ochre hews, Venetian reds, soft camera focus and the glowing whiteness of doctors' caftans, illumined by multiple light sources a la Vermeer - turn death into a feast. Story-wise, though, there's little here for viewers not big on French history. It's unmissable. Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password. Amazon.fr - Achetez The Death of Louis XIV à petit prix. ‘A wig with the consistency of candyfloss’: Jean-Pierre Léaud in The Death of Louis XIV. Jean-Pierre Léaud stars as the dying monarch in a tragedy tinged with black humour The Death Of Louis XIV film review: Painstaking portrait of the final days of the Sun King. Film Review: ‘The Death of Louis XIV’ Read full article. Film, Drama. 'The Death Of Louis XIV': Review 19 May, 2016 | By Allan Hunter Dir. Quite movingly, Louis XIV urgently records and archives the presence of a man-an actor-whose entire life has been filmed and projected as extensively as was probably possible for someone of Laud's generation. Jean-Pierre Léaud stars as the dying monarch in a tragedy tinged with black humour, Last modified on Wed 21 Mar 2018 23.50 GMT. The Death of Louis XIV is a very singular formalist filmmaking in its highest order. Livraison gratuite (voir cond.). One of the most lugubrious movie premises of recent years -- watch King Louis XIV, the Sun King, die slowly, in one dark room, over nearly two hours of screen time -- is here transformed into startling and fresh entertainment. The Death of Louis XIV shows [Léaud] as a consummate actor in a film composed like a painting that says so much about mortality in so few words. Retrouvez infos & avis sur une large sélection de DVD & Blu-ray neufs ou d'occasion. Death is a grisly business. C atalan prankster Albert Serra’s Story of My Death seized on a juicy historical fantasy—Casanova meets Count Dracula, with grisly results—and came away with two-and-a-half lethargic hours of unscripted juvenilia masquerading as revisionist profundity. Leaud himself dons a series of ever-more-outlandish and gravity defying poodle wigs as the venerated “Sun King”, waiting in his velvet-draped chambers to be enveloped by the infinite. By Allan Hunter 2016-05-19T22:56:00+01:00. April McIntyre reviews Albert Serra's poignant period drama. The French actor Jean-Pierre Léaud is best known for his first major role in François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, in which the closing freeze-frame of his then 14-year-old face is a lingering image of his star persona. The Death of Louis XIV shows [Léaud] as a consummate actor in a film composed like a painting that says so much about mortality in so few words. At first, it’s morbidly funny – his aides offer him a chocolate box filled with fake eyeballs, cheer as he manages to successfully eat a biscuit, and rush to his side when he calls for water in the middle of the night, choking and wheezing that he won’t drink out of anything other than a crystal goblet. By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy While the film predominantly has Jean-Pierre Leaud rotting away in his luxurious bed, as his gangrene gradually begins to intensify,… Review by Aldo ★★★½ . Its fly-on-the-wall depiction of power jostling and slowly escalating desperation in the face of the inevitable eschews heavy-handed symbolism at every turn. Amazon.fr - Achetez The Death of Louis XIV à petit prix. With Jean-Pierre Léaud, Patrick d'Assumçao, Marc Susini, Bernard Belin. While the film predominantly has Jean-Pierre Leaud rotting away in his luxurious bed, as his gangrene gradually begins to intensify,… Ben Kenigsberg. Don't have an account? Film Review: ‘The Death of Louis XIV’ Jean-Pierre Léaud plays the title role in Albert Serra's claustrophobic and often grimly funny depiction of the dimming of the Sun King. Still, the best sequence sees Léaud – who spends a great deal of the film all but inert – breaking the fourth wall and fixing his gaze on the camera. By. Directed by Albert Serra. 4 / 5 stars . Guest - Jul 12, 2017. Shot so well it looks like a painting from this time, really gripping film on death. Review: The Death of Louis XIV is contemplative cinema at its best. ReddIt. A series of exquisitely composed images, each one lit like an Old Master painting with the soft glow of candlelight, present us the last days in the life of one of the most powerful monarchs in modern history, Louis XIV, the man who was known as the Sun King. It is a gruelling film but one that weaves a sombre spell. In The Death of Louis XIV, Léaud shows us stray glimmers of the droll conversationalist and irrepressible bon vivant the Sun King once must have been. Louis may be dying, but Léaud is alive. The irony of the king's death is heightened by its straightforward presentation and procedural approach. The Death Of Louis XIV Felled by a sharp leg pain, King Louis XIV (Léaud) retires to his royal chamber. Retrouvez infos & avis sur une large sélection de DVD & Blu-ray neufs ou d'occasion. Its slow pace and dark, lush setting require attention but also a forgetting or abandonment of the world outside. … 'The Death Of Louis XIV': Review. Open this photo in gallery: Jean-Pierre Léaud in La mort de Louis XIV [The Death of Louis XIV… Serra self-consciously removes his film from the assaultive world of media. Louis (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is dying of an unspecified ailment, but as the story progresses, a gangrenous foot clues us in that an infection has taken over his body. 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