The Death of Louis XIV (2016)

Upon returning from a hunting expedition, King Louis XIV feels a sharp pain in his leg. He begins to die, surrounded by loyal followers in the royal chambers.

Director:

Albert Serra

Writers:

Thierry Lounas (scenario), Albert Serra (scenario)

Stars:

Jean-Pierre Léaud, Patrick d'Assumçao, Marc Susini

13 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean-Pierre Léaud	...	Louis XIV
Patrick d'Assumçao	...	Fagon
Marc Susini	...	1er valet du roi
Bernard Belin	...	Maréchal
Irène Silvagni	...	Madame de Maintenon
Jacques Henric	...	Père Le Tellier
Vicenç Altaió	...	Le Brun
Alain Lajoinie	...	Le Pelletier
Olivier Cadiot	...	Médecin 1
Philippe Crespeau	...	Médecin 2
Alain Reynaud	...	Médecin 3
Richard Plano	...	Médecin 4
Adrian Dunãrintu	...	Assistant Fagon
José Wallenstein	...	Médecin 5
Francis Montaulard	...	Duc d'Orléans

Storyline

Upon returning from a hunting expedition, King Louis XIV feels a sharp pain in his leg. He begins to die, surrounded by loyal followers in the royal chambers.

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Plot Keywords:

pain | king | king louis xiv | french history | bad smell | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France] Official site [Japan]

Country:

France Spain Portugal

Language:

Latin French

Release Date:

2 November 2016 (France)

Also Known As:

The Death of Louis XIV

Filming Locations:

Château de Hautefort, Hautefort, Dordogne, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,002, 31 March 2017, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$42,694, 7 July 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Capricci Films, Rosa Filmes, Andergraun Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Death of Louis XIV (2016) was the 10th best film of 2016 according to the annual 'Sight & Sound' poll in which 163 critics and curators named their 5 top movies of the year.

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Soundtracks

El gest
Written and Performed by Marc Verdaguer

User Reviews

A technical wonder, but without enough substance

The biggest wonder of this film is that it had most of its audience sitting all the way through. For almost 2 hours of every minute detail of the last days of Louis the 14th, the greatest king France has ever known. Truth is though we do follow every minute detail we don't really see every thing. In fact what we do see is mostly close ups of the faces of the protagonists (mostly the face of Jean-Pierre Leaud who does a superb work as the dying king betrayed by his body, but keeping his mind sharp to the very last moment), we often only get to hear whats taking place while we keep on seeing these close ups. The result is a very beautiful, claustrophobic film, with very little plot development and very little action. Theatrical in the most cinematographic way - namely it's very theatrical but we always get to see it through the eye of the camera, did I forget to mention loads of close ups. So I did stay focused all the way to the end. And I do appreciate the technical mastery of the director and the cinematographer. And the acting was first class. But there's too little of any other element that could make it into a real masterpiece.