The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (1966)

After the death of Cardinal Mazarin, young king Louis XIV decides to assert his power to control the aristocracy.

Director:

Roberto Rossellini

Writers:

Philippe Erlanger (scenario), Jean Gruault (adaptation)

Stars:

Jean-Marie Patte, Raymond Jourdan, César Silvagni

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean-Marie Patte	...	King Louis XIV
Raymond Jourdan	...	Jean Baptiste Colbert
César Silvagni	...	Cardinal Mazarin (as Silvagni)
Katharina Renn	...	Anne d'Autriche
Dominique Vincent	...	Madame Du Plessis
Pierre Barrat	...	Nicolas Fouquet
Fernand Fabre	...	Michel Le Tellier
Françoise Ponty	...	Louise de la Vallière
Joëlle Laugeois	...	Marie-Thérèse
Maurice Barrier	...	D'Artagnan
André Dumas	...	Le Père Joly
François Mirante	...	M. de Brienne
Pierre Spadoni	...	Noni
Roger Guillo	...	L'apothicaire
Louis Raymond	...	Le premier médecin

Storyline

1661: Cardinal Mazarin dies. In the power vacuum, the young Louis asserts his intention to govern as well as rule. Mazarin's fiscal advisor, Colbert, warns against Fouquet, the Surintendant who's been systematically looting the treasury and wants to be prime minister. Fouquet believes Louis will soon tire of exercizing power; he overplays his hand, offering a bribe to Louis's mistress to be his ally. She reports this to the king who arrests Fouquet. Louis and Colbert design a brilliant strategy to keep merchants making money, nobles in debt, the urban poor working and fed, and peasants untaxed. Years later, in a coda, we see Louis exercising the power of the sun.

---

Plot Keywords:

looking at oneself in a mirror | king | versailles france | prime minister | money | 

---

Genres:

Biography | History

---

Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French Latin

Release Date:

8 October 1966 (France)

Also Known As:

The Taking of Power by Louis XIV

Filming Locations:

Chateau de Versailles, Versailles, Yvelines, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min 102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Louisiana was named after him.

---

Connections

Referenced in Inside the Actors Studio: Martin Scorsese (2002)

User Reviews

This film puts the French Baroque period into sharp focus.

Louis XIV was not judged by his contemporaries to be much of anything while Mazarin was alive. This film shows how with brains and style, he consolidated power by subtly weakening the nobility of France with "circuses and bread." Aristocrats obsessed with the King's latest style of coat while competing for his favor were not going to wage petty wars or rebel again. To keep them placated and diverted, Louis built Versailles - L'Île Enchantée, the 17th century version of Disneyworld. In that island of wonder and diversion, he turned his fractious nobles into groupies, hanging on is every word and gesture. He gave them plays, operas, masques, fine cuisine, wine, fabulous gardens to play in, and a style of living that required more money than their estates could earn. Versailles was their golden cage, and even with the door open, none wanted to fly out. A little more than a century later, his great-grandson would die on the guillotine, an end whose beginnings were sown in the isolation and excesses of the court he created to consolidate his power.