''The Death of Louis XIV'' (french: La Mort de Louis XIV) is a 2016
historical drama film directed by
Albert Serra and starring
Jean-Pierre Léaud
Jean-Pierre Léaud, ComM (; born 28 May 1944) is a French actor, known for playing Antoine Doinel in François Truffaut's series of films about that character, beginning with ''The 400 Blows'' (1959). He also worked several times with Jean-Luc ...
. Set in 1715, it depicts the final days of
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of ...
. The film had its world premiere at the
2016 Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2016.
It was released in France on 2 November 2016.
Plot
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ver ...
lies in his bed. Because of the gangrene, his foot becomes blackened.
Cast
Production
Director
Albert Serra and producer Thierry Lounas wrote the screenplay for the film.
Jean-Pierre Léaud
Jean-Pierre Léaud, ComM (; born 28 May 1944) is a French actor, known for playing Antoine Doinel in François Truffaut's series of films about that character, beginning with ''The 400 Blows'' (1959). He also worked several times with Jean-Luc ...
played the lead role.
For the film, Albert Serra did not have any rehearsals.
Filming took place in the surroundings of the
Château de Hautefort in 2015.
It took 15 days to shoot the film in total.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the
2016 Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2016.
It was released in France on 2 November 2016.
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 56 reviews, and an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''The Death of Louis XIV'' will frustrate viewers out of sync with its deliberate pace, but those with the patience to settle in may be rewarded with a thoughtful, finely detailed drama." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Boyd van Hoeij of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' called the film "
lbert Serra'smost accessible work to date." Glenn Kenny of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote, "As for Mr. Serra, while he often enjoys playing the foppish provocateur in his interviews, his film is sober, meticulous and entirely convincing in its depiction of period and mortality." Ben Kenigsberg of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote, "As minimalist as Serra's films can be, they are rarely boring, and often given to wry wit."
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''.
Early life and education
Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...
of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' gave the film 5 out of 5 stars, writing, "At 73, Jean-Pierre Léaud gives what could be the performance of his career as Louis XIV." Allan Hunter of ''
Screen International'' also commented that "It is easily the actor's best role and most noteworthy performance in some time."
Accolades
References
External links
Official website*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Death of Louis XIV, The
2016 films
2010s historical drama films
2010s French-language films
French historical drama films
Portuguese historical drama films
Spanish historical drama films
Films directed by Albert Serra
Films about Louis XIV
Films set in the 1710s
Films featuring a Best Actor Lumières Award-winning performance
2016 drama films
2010s Spanish films
2010s French films