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Watch The Death Of Louis XIV (La mort de Louis XIV) [Sub: Eng]
Upon returning from a hunting expedition, King Louis XIV feels a sharp pain in his leg. He begins to die, surrounded by loyal followers in the royal chambers.
One of the most lugubrious movie premises of recent years -- watch King Louis XIV, the Sun King, die slowly, in one dark room, over nearly two hours of screen time -- is here transformed into startling and fresh entertainment.
[Léaud,] remembered by film lovers as the young prince of the Nouvelle Vague, certainly gets you thinking about mortality. Story-wise, though, there's little here for viewers not big on French history.
At its most powerful it presents an allegory of the decline and fall and vanity of power, and an intimate look at the inevitable confrontation with mortality faced by kings and commoners alike.
Serra's sad, stately, haunting addition to the slow-cinema genre doubles up as both an intimate study of the Sun King's death and a requiem for Europe's fading arthouse scene.