Louis, enfant roi (1993)

The title of this major French costume drama means "Louis, child-king", and indeed it's a fascinating fresco about the formative years of the young king Louis XIV, before he became the ... See full summary »

Director:

Roger Planchon

Writer:

Roger Planchon (scenario)

Stars:

Carmen Maura, Maxime Mansion, Paolo Graziosi

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Carmen Maura	...	Anne d'Autriche
Maxime Mansion	...	Louis XIV
Paolo Graziosi	...	Mazarin
Jocelyn Quivrin	...	Philippe Duc d'Anjou
Hervé Briaux	...	Gaston d'Orléans
Brigitte Catillon	...	Duchesse de Chevreuse
Irina Dalle	...	Grande Mademoiselle
Serge Dupire	...	Prince de Condé
Isabelle Gélinas	...	Duchesse de Chatillon
Michèle Laroque	...	Duchesse de Longueville
Aurélien Recoing	...	Coadjuteur de l'Archevêque de Paris, futur Cardinal de Retz
Régis Royer	...	Prince de Conti
Vanessa Wagner	...	Charlotte de Chevreuse
Maurice Barrier	...	Guitaud
Marco Bisson	...	Le duc de Nemours

Storyline

The title of this major French costume drama means "Louis, child-king", and indeed it's a fascinating fresco about the formative years of the young king Louis XIV, before he became the Sun-king at Versailles. It was a dark and violent period, when the Louvre (meaning 'wolves hunt castle', hunting was a major aristocratic pastime), then still the somewhat gloomy royal palace, was the battle field of palace intrigues while the regency was held by queen-mother Anne of Austria but the actual head of the royal government was the aging cardinal Giulio Mazirini ('Mazarin'), the less-known Italian successor of Richelieu, who also introduced to the court and the kingdom a host of his countrymen from whom Louis would learn the passion for Italian culture, especially music which would flourish under the direction of Lully (but that later story is another movie, "Le Roi danse"). The elaborate script sketches the story of French power politics, too complicate and devious to summarize in any detail...

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Plot Keywords:

french | italian | politics | sun king | palace intrigue | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

21 April 1993 (France)

Also Known As:

Louis, the Child King

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Losange, Centre Européen Cinématographique Rhône-Alpes, TSF Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

160 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Very hard to understand...

French movies of the Renaissance use to be very intelligent. But this one is very hard to understand. I think viewers got to have an University degree in history to really understand. I'm familiar with French history, I'm a french guy from Canada, and I love this kind of historical movie. But this one is always too much: too much references, too much talking and the viewers don't have time to think or to breathe. It's sad, because visually, this is a very good quality film.