The Taking of Power by Louis XIV

The Taking of Power by Louis XIV
The Taking of Power by Louis XIV
	French DVD cover
Directed by	Roberto Rossellini
Written by	Philippe Erlanger; Jean Gruault
Produced by	Roberto Rossellini
Starring	Jean-Marie Patte; Raymond Jourdan; Katharina Renn; Silvagni; Pierre Barrat
Cinematography	Georges Leclerc
Edited by	Armand Ridel
Release date	1966;
Running time	100 min.
Country	France
Language	French

The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (French: La prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV), also called The Rise of Louis XIV, is a 1966 French television film by Italian film director Roberto Rossellini.

Plot

The film revolves around the French king Louis XIV's rise to power after the death of his powerful advisor, Cardinal Mazarin. To achieve this political autonomy, Louis deals with his mother and the court nobles, all of whom make the assumption that Mazarin's death will give them more power.

Cast

Jean-Marie Patte as Louis XIV
Raymond Jourdan as Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Giulio Cesare Silvagni as Cardinal Mazarin
Katharina Renn as Anne of Austria
Dominique Vincent as Suzanne, Marquise du Plessis-Bellière
Pierre Barrat as Nicolas Fouquet
Fernand Fabre as Michel Le Tellier, Marquis of Barbezieux
Françoise Ponty as Louise de la Vallière
Joelle Laugeois as Maria Theresa of Spain

Reception

Colin McCabe of the University of Pittsburgh praised the film as "the most serious attempt by a great director to film history." In addition to the political story of the king's grasp of power, the "incidental details, it can be argued, form the real subject matter of all of Rossellini's historical films...." McCabe's examples include the doctors’ examination of Mazarin at the beginning of the film and the "extraordinary banquet" that comes close to the end. "We watch the dishes being prepared in a kitchen teeming with cooks, we follow the umpteenth platter as it is formally escorted through the corridors and staircases, until it reaches an enormous table, where the king sits alone, dining in front of his whole court."^[1]

Release

The Taking of Power by Louis XIV received a DVD release by The Criterion Collection in January 2009.^[2]

References

Colin MacCabe, (2008) The Taking of Power by Louis XIV: Long Live the Cinema!, Criterion Collection Essay.

References

^ McCabe 2008
^ "The Criterion Collection Coming Soon". The Criterion Collection. Archived from the original on November 7, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2008.

External links

The Taking of Power by Louis XIV at AllMovie
The Taking of Power by Louis XIV at IMDb
The Taking of Power by Louis XIV at Rotten Tomatoes
The Taking of Power by Louis XIV: Long Live the Cinema! an essay by Colin MacCabe at the Criterion Collection

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[1] McCabe 2008

[criterion-2] "The Criterion Collection Coming Soon". The Criterion Collection. Archived from the original on November 7, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2008.

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