The Splendor of the Royal Court fizzles The quality of the film was very poor. The acting wooden and largely unemotional. I have seen high school plays better written and acted than this.
Great film, terrible transfer Film students are often exposed to LA PRISE DE POUVOIR PAR LOUIS XIV (which is usually translated as THE RISE TO POWER OF LOUIS XIV), either as an example of the work of its director, Roberto Rossellini, or because of its unconventional approach to filmmaking. Using an unknown to play the King, Rossellini self-consciously avoids dramatic heightening in order to concentrate on the mores and social environment of the King's early reign. Unfortunately, the film is pretty much unknown to wider audiences, which is ironic given that it was made for French television. This ignorance is a pity, since LOUIS XIV may be one of the most sophisticated examinations of history on film ever created.
Where the usual history film will concentrate on the interaction between a political figure's public duties and his or her private dilemmas, LOUIS XIV almost completely eliminates the personal. What little there is serves more to accentuate the public, political events than to give us access to the King's psychology. There is an extreme emphasis on ceremony and ritual, as if the outward forms of people's behavior in the 17th century can provide access to their thoughts. So, for example, when Cardinal Mazarin is on his death bed, we are treated to his doctors' examination at length. We listen to their diagnosis, prognosis and proposed remedies with the realization that no matter how strange these ideas seem to us, they were treated seriously by the people of the time. Or, when the King eats dinner, we are shown the elaborate preparations going on below stairs so that he can sit in isolated splendor, only to reject one of the complex dishes we've seen prepared in detail. This is just one of the brilliantly concise incidents that help us to understand feudal effulgence as a physical manifestation of power and control.
Unfortunately, the film's major influence on other filmmakers, its detailed physical environment and photographic style, are not well served by the video transfer. It looks as if no effort was expended at all to get decent elements. I do not know in what gauge the film was shot. It looks, however, as if this video was made from a 16mm print, and not a particularly good one at that. The picture is scratched badly, the colors are variable, there are frequent jumps in the picture, as if portions of the picture have been spliced out, the sound warbles, music is cut in mid-phrase, and so on. While I am grateful to have a copy of the film, it deserves better than this treatment. Perhaps an enterprising DVD producer will pick up the rights to it and do it justice. In the meantime, caveat emptor.
English subtitles need help A good look at Louis XIV's early reign, including daily activities and rituals, starting with the death of Mazarin. Very brief look at some of the issues of that time and Louis' relationship with key figures. Almost doesn't do the marvelous monarch justice. Unfortunately, the subtitles are horrible so a basic understanding of French is needed to understand certain sections.
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