Louis XVI, l'homme qui ne voulait pas être roi

Louis was only twenty when he found himself the unwilling king of France. Immature, anti-social and awkward, he is at a loss at what to do. He relies on a succession of advisers, who pull Louis to and fro in confusion, while at the same time other factions are determined to profit from his lack of acumen.

All through this film I continued to think of how closely it parallels our economic and political problems in the United States today.

We have a leader who clearly wants to do the right thing by his people. Yet he sometimes appears indecisive, conciliatory, and continues to change counsel. He is faced with a parliament (congress) that stubbornly rejects everything and anything he wants to accomplish, and an increasingly frustrated and unhappy public,effectively demonstrated by our messy Occupy Wall Street manifestations throughout the country. And while our president should not be blamed for all our problems, it is upon his shoulders that the blame ultimately falls.

We have the tea party idea so neatly expressed in the picture, that there are three groups: The ruling class (read the rich), the church and the working people. The church pays in that it constantly prays for the nobility. The idea of taxing the church is immediately cast aside as too ridiculous for serious consideration. That leaves the princes of blood (the rich) and the working class. It is the obligation of the working class to work and pay taxes so the privileged may continue their comfortable lifestyle. That's the natural order of things. That's God's plan.

And lastly, as the picture points out, the court at Versailles lives in a bubble, completely isolated from the reality of the world around it. Our representatives and senators appear to be living in the same sort of impregnable bubble. They will not or cannot hear the voice of the public. When an adviser points out to the king the excess of one prince who used over 160 horses for a little visit to the countryside, the king can only say, but we have over 2,000.

The man who did not want to be king is a beautifully produced film, well told and beautifully photographed. If I'm allowed one little complaint, I personally felt Louis was a little on the thin side. I always picture him as a bit on the chubby side. (Think my personal favorite Louis XVI, Robert Morley). Besides, although I won't mention his name, Louis XVI looks a great deal like a popular American comic (to me at least.).

Louis' weakness and lack of self-confidence, however, are well-expressed in his facial and body language, as well as in his speech.

King Louis XVI found himself in the unfortunate position of being at a total loss in his new position. Pushed and pulled from every side, he allowed too many cooks in the kitchen. They came and went while the country simply went.

a king and his period. portrait of a world and sketch of a man who must be king. a delicate homage to Louis XVI. and beautiful manner to present, in a form of docudrama, the reign of a special French character. I confess - Louis XVI was one of my childhood heroes and this film is occasion to discover a warm gentle trip in heart of his time, full of care and respect, in few moments childish, in another - touching, good exercise to present not only atmosphere but landscape of soul of a man and his deep solitude across years, his good intentions as Spanish castles and his fall as helplessness in middle of French court for who he is a puppet or a prisoner, an instrument or a shadow. a beautiful film. great for its measure and subtle script.a lesson of history. or, only, portrait of a victim with air of character from old Greek tragedy.

Having finished reading Elena Maria Vidal ( http://planetrussell.net/emvidal2/ )'s «Trianon: A Novel of Royal France» (review: http://traditioninaction.org/bkreviews/A_007br_Trianon.htm ), my wife and I watched «Farewell, My Queen» and deeply regret it. Honestly, it is on par with the pornographic, slanderous pamphlets in the Queen's era.

This film, however, is day-and-night better.

It doesn't have unnecessary nudity like «Farewell, My Queen», which portrays Queen Marie-Antoinette as having same-sex attractions with La Duchesse Gabrielle de Polignac and making her reader Sidonie Laborde be a decoy and dress like La Duchesse just to save La Duchesse's life.

«Louis XVI, the Man Who Didn't Want to Be King» (watch in French here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5g9EuXPtR0 ) is much more accurate because, unlike «Farewell, My Queen», it actually gives the King a part with dialogue, shows Trianon more, shows Marie-Antoinette's children and her being a mother more, mentions more history than just the Storming of the Bastille and a passing reference to the defecting of priests, and includes scenes from the King's trial.

Two thumbs down for «Farewell, My Queen». Two thumbs up for «Louis XVI, the Man Who Didn't Want to Be King»p.

It's a cliché but also a painful truth that only hindsight gives meaning to the chaotic flow of events of the present. As of 2011, an epoch of financial crisis, the debates about drastic cuts in pensions, the bad state of public health, whether to increase taxes or give freedom to the people looking forward to improve the economy, it's as if the same problems that haunted France in the XVIII century are troubling us now. No further comments.

Louis XVI said to Malesherbes (one of his financial advisers), when he resigned: "I only wish I could do the same". The name of this film is illustrated throughout the film. His voice quivers, he changes of financial advisers when he should stick to one adviser. He was a weak man, and nobility and the clergy knew it before anybody else. The "Fronde" terrorized Turgot, Necker undid everything he did, when he was replaced, the people didn't trust Calonne, in short, when too many chiefs mean there's no government :).

Beautiful period music, specially in the end. Speaking of that, the musician's faces while they play during a sort of farcical play in honour of the king give us a subtle idea of the subservient role of everybody who was from the "third state" in that hierarchical society. As one nobleman says: "They have to pay taxes and work" :).

Raphaëlle Agogué as Marie Antoinette has a royal beauty, only matched by her lack of contact with reality. Matthieu Rozé (from "Central Nuit" TV series) is a haughty nobleman a bit rigid when viewed from nowaday's perspective, but probably representative of the ideals of the time. Voltaire and Beaumarchais's ideas of liberty were there, but somehow they didn't achieve much popularity.

The narrator's voice (Vinciane Millereau) is perfect. All the palaces and scenes of historic importance are fine. Some original camera views of the nobility already give us ominous hints of what we all know will happen.

The only quibble I have is that sometimes things are not as easy or stereotyped as we see here. I've never seen so much food together being eaten! I mean, we all know nobility committed excesses, but I guess this film shows them a bit too much, too oftenly. Like them using carriages to mount the stairs, and being too fat to be lifted. Or women's wigs, being so tall they couldn't enter into the carriages. By the way, they show the "excessive" nobility impersonated in old and not nice people. Again, it's biased for nobles weren't just interested in eating.

Watch this hidden gem even if you are not interested in history. No previous knowledge is required, all the necessary facts are shown here in a lively fashion.