La prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV

"The rise of Louis the Fourteenth" is an austere work ,close to documentary.If you're looking for an Hollywoodian entertaining flick ,pass by.The scene which depicts King Louis's first "conseil" directly comes from count Lomenie de Brienne's memoirs :the words Louis utters are exactly the same.

This is the kind of film that should be shown in every school of the planet .It is a lesson many directors should pay attention to.All that matters is included:Louis 's sinister souvenirs of "La Fronde" which would lead him to surround himself with ministers from the bourgeoisie and to live far from Paris.The main subject of the movie is the taming of the nobles :Fouquet was the last of those arrogant lords,so his downfall was bound to happen (with a "little" help from Colbert,a merchant).It's a long way from Mazarin's death to the scenes in Versailles Palace where the nobles have become servants .They used to fight to keep their military and political power,now they would fight to be the one to hold out his shirt to their king when He gets up.They would become courtiers.

Rosselini had nothing to prove when he made this made-for-TV work:an Italian,he displayed a perfect command of such an important time in the history of my country.