The Death of Louis XIV

Synopsis

“In “The Death of Louis XIV” we watch as power is taken from the Sun King. This claustrophobic and often grimly funny procedural stays largely confined to the bedside of the debilitated monarch (played by Jean-Pierre Léaud) as he deteriorates during his final days, endlessly poked and prodded by the big medical brains of his court. Closer to the waggish spirit of Serra’s first two features – the “Don Quixote” riff “Honor of the Knights” (2006), and “Birdsong” (2008), a deadpan take on the Three Wise Men – than it is to his arthritic 2013 Locarno winner, “The Story of My Death” (which incorporated elements of the Casanova and Dracula legends), “The Death of Louis XIV” continues the director’s overall project of bringing larger-than-life figures down to human scale, and imbuing literary and historical tales with real physicality and immediacy. (…) The director’s aesthetic perversity extends to casting screen legend, charisma magnet, and honorary Palme recipient Léaud in a role that keeps him almost entirely prostrate. The part often forces the actor to appear nonverbal and writhing in pain, in a wig that can make him look like a giant poodle.” (Ben Kenigsberg, Variety)

Around The World in 14 Films 2016, presented by Meret Becker – in attendance of director Albert Serra

With the support of the Spanish Embassy