The Death of Louis XIV

(La mort de Louis XIV, Albert Serra, Portugal/France/Spain 2016, 115 min., DCP, French w/subtitles)

Rochester Premiere | Period Dramas. Versailles, August 1715. Back from hunting, Louis XIV—magisterially interpreted by New Wave icon and honorary Palme d’Or recipient Jean-Pierre Léaud—feels pain in his leg. A serious fever erupts, which marks the beginning of the agony of the greatest King of France. Surrounded by a horde of doctors and his closest counselors who come in turns at his bedside sensing the impending power vacuum, the Sun King struggles to run the country from his bed. Based on extensive medical records and the memoirs of the Duke of Saint-Simon and other courtiers, The Death of Louis XIV is a wry neoclassical chamber drama, a work of pure magic by Albert Serra, one of today’s most singular directors.

“The most beautiful film at Cannes 2016.” – Jonathan Romney, Sight and Sound