The Death of Louis XIV

With the camera tightly framed on the faces of Louis XIV and his various physicians, the physical claustrophobia gives way to the psychological elements of death that, in the end, make mortals of us all: its banality and loneliness is met with each twitch of a cheek, each dribble of spittle, each painful groan that reduces the Sun King to that of any being. Minimalism allows for Léaud's remarkable performance in which the face conveys all in this chamber piece on the universality of death.

Serra once again recreates history, only this time it feels less abstract, more grounded. It's his most polished and accessible film to date, but it's also a claustrophobic chamber piece that features a great performance by the legendary Jean-Pierre Léaud who is magnetic in the role of the Sun King. Like Sokurov's Taurus, it is a grim reflection on power and mortality that rejects the allure of spectacle because death doesn't discriminate.

Stylish & somehow overlong meditation on the profanation of sovereignty at the dawn of Enlightenment. Film's name suggests a focus on the death, not on the personality of Louis XIV, just like the medical doctors who treat him like a lab-rat. At the end, the doctor says they'll be more careful next time, as if in an experiment. Depicts a world where the halo of sovereignty is destroyed by the new science and cartesian worldview. Great imagery but as I said, a bit too long for its content matter.

Jean-Pierre Léaud kalp.

Realistic, thus very disturbing.

roi rot

The movie, through brilliant acting, scenario and art direction, succeeded in creating a very intimate atmosphere that made me feel i was standing around Louis XIV's deathbed. A beautiful and carnal reflection on mortality and palliative care, but also a perfect timemachine to the state of medicine in his age. Headphone / good speakers are absolutely mandatory! The whimpering and moaning and all around amazing sound design play a big role.

the most self-aggrandising king of them all, played by a legend of the nouvelle vague, pathetically withering away on the most luxurious of deathbeds, surrounded by fussing fools carrying out useless rituals. uneventful and didactic on paper, it quickly lulled me in with its hushed intimacy, droll farce and painterly frames, and there's something fresh and exclusive to film in how it collapses gulfs between the mythological-historical and banal corporeal, between representation and the real.

If the goal is to "live the present through the past", as Serra says, then it is perhaps not unreasonable to observe that aged and palliative care, not to mention dying itself, seem to have changed less in three centuries than one might imagine, but also that the picture of mortality shown here might still be derived a little too greatly from a post-morphine world in which throes and sufferings have been smoothed out of existence or rendered invisible. Certainly effort went into the composition.

Ambiance of a dying king. Nearly two hours watching Louis XIV on his death bed, giving a intimate deteriorating experience with a lot of heavy old-mans-breathing and whispers surrounding the soon-to-be-corpse. Might give the Norwegian state channel NRK a new idea for their slow TV....

It's a great achievement; turning le Roi-Soleil into a pitiful weak old man.