Louis, the Child King ( Louis, enfant roi )

Louis, the Child King (DVD) (*)

$23.99

Original Title: Louis, enfant roi
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Cannes Film Festival
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Dolby Digital Stereo )
French ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
France ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
160 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Featurette
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Booklet

Movie filmed in 1993 and produced in:
France ( France, Benelux )

Directed By:
Roger Planchon

Written By:
Roger Planchon

Actors:
Carmen Maura ..... Anne d'Autriche
Maxime Mansion ..... Louis XIV
Paolo Graziosi ..... Mazarin
Jocelyn Quivrin ..... Philippe Duc d'Anjou
Hervé Briaux ..... Gaston d'Orléans
Brigitte Catillon ..... Duchesse de Chevreuse
Irina Dalle ..... Grande Mademoiselle
Serge Dupire ..... Prince de Condé
Isabelle Gélinas ..... Duchesse de Chatillon
Michèle Laroque ..... Duchesse de Longueville
Aurélien Recoing ..... Coadjuteur de l'Archevêque de Paris, futur Cardinal de Retz
Régis Royer ..... Prince de Conti
Vanessa Wagner ..... Charlotte de Chevreuse
Maurice Barrier ..... Guitaud
Marco Bisson ..... Le duc de Nemours
Carlo Brandt ..... Duc de la Rochefoucauld
Isabelle Renauld ..... Mme de Beauvais
Jean-Pol Dubois ..... Abbé La Rivière
Frédéric Bazin ..... Colbert
Thierry Bosc ..... Vicomte de Turenne
Jacques Bourgaux ..... Le faux Mazarin
Marcel Bozonnet ..... Louis XIII
Frédéric Constant ..... Marquis de Jarze
Elodie Frenck ..... La servante aux grands pieds
Ezio Frigerio ..... Tonelli
Laurent Gamelon ..... Descouches
Michèle Gleizer ..... Mme de Noirols
Nathalie Krebs ..... Margueritte, duchesse d'Orléans
Pierre-Jean Larroque ..... Le chanteur italien
Lorenzo Lavia ..... Paolo Mancini
Jean Leuvrais ..... Novion
Claude Lévèque ..... Le précepteur
Sébastien Libessart ..... Marquis de Villequier
Jean-Pierre Malignon ..... Le professeur de musique
Michèle Pezzin ..... Princesse de Condé
Roger Planchon ..... Le vieux domestique
Bruno Raffaelli ..... Le Bé
Nathalie Rebondo ..... La fille du jardinier
Elsa Saladin ..... Laura Mancini
Gérard Simon ..... Le préposé aux chandelles
Richard Sammut ..... Le duc de Châtillon
Frédéric Tokarz ..... Le duc de Mercoeur
Yasmine Tomlinson ..... Une fille de Gaston d'Orléans
Layla Tomlinson ..... Une fille de Gaston d'Orléans
Max Vialle ..... Valot
Françoise Deniau ..... Danseuse
Marc LeClerc ..... Danseur
Serge Ambert ..... Danseur
Charles Berling ..... Petit rôle
Anne-Marie Gardette ..... Danseuse
Nicolas N'Guyen ..... Danseur
Natalie Van Parys ..... Danseuse

Synopsis:

The title of this major French costume drama means 'Louis, child-king', and indeed it's a fascinating fresco about the formative years of the young king Louis XIV, before he became the Sun-king at Versailles. It was a dark and violent period, when the Louvre (meaning 'wolves hunt castle', hunting was a major aristocratic pastime), then still the somewhat gloomy royal palace, was the battle field of palace intrigues while the regency was held by queen-mother Anne of Austria but the actual head of the royal government was the aging cardinal Giulio Mazirini ('Mazarin'), the less-known Italian successor of Richelieu, who also introduced to the court and the kingdom a host of his countrymen from whom Louis would learn the passion for Italian culture, especially music which would flourish under the direction of Lully (but that later story is another movie, 'Le Roi danse'). The elaborate script sketches the story of French power politics, too complicate and devious to summarize in any detail, but mainly from the viewpoint of the immature king under maternal guardianship, who probably didn't comprehend half of the grave troubles focusing on the strife between the official Catholic church and those claiming freedom of religion, especially for the Huguenots, but in reality mainly driven by personal and family ambitions and the grip of nobles on the kingdom at the expense of the royal power, and climaxing in a full rebellion, known as the Fronde, which forces the royal family to flee for their lives, an experience that may have decided Louis to dedicate his reign to preventing a repeat by establishing absolutism as he did. Some narration is done by Louis's younger brother Philip, the duke of Anjou, who seems smarter but as the spare heir is condemned to life in a golden cage, overshadowed by Louis while any 'disrespect' for his crowned sibling is punishable on the spot by strap lashes administered on his bare behind by a servant.

This product was added to our catalog on Sunday 10 November, 2019.

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