THE RISE OF LOUIS XIV Movie Review

La Prise de Pouvoir par Louis XIV

Roberto Rossellini's masterful and remarkably intimate “docudrama” details the life and court intrigues of the 17th century's Sun King. The best and most frequently screened of a series of historical portraits Rossellini created for French television, The Rise of Louis XIV is disorienting at first because of its straightforward, workmanlike style, which includes TV-style zoom shots that seem utterly incongruous in a lush, historical epic. But it's precisely that method of recording the “action” that makes watching the film feel so much like being present as events took place. Carrying on the tradition of his “caught-on-the-run” style used so brilliantly in his Open City and Paisan, Rossellini here has added a new tranquility and almost voyeuristic observational technique, creating the impression that this was somehow a film made during Louis's reign, and only now has been discovered to give us a view of history never before available. It's a remarkable, ingenious illusion, unlike almost every other period film ever made.

NEXT STOP … The Private Life of Henry VIII, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Blaise Pascal

1966 100m/C FR Jean-Marie Patte, Raymond Jourdan, Dominique Vincent, Silvagni, Pierre Barrat; D: Roberto Rossellini. VHS HTV, FCT