Film Screening: The Taking of Power by Louis XIV
The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (La prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV) (1966) Dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1h 30mins
The death of chief minister Cardinal Mazarin, the construction of the palace at Versailles, the extravagant meals of the royal court: all are recounted with the same meticulous quotidian detail that Rossellini brought to his contemporary portraits of post-war Italy. The Taking of Power by Louis XIV dares to place a larger-than-life figure at the level of mere mortal.