THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV | Trailer

The Death of Louis XIV
France 115 mins

“A modest yet profound contemplation of mortality and history … perhaps the most beautiful film seen in Cannes this year.” – Sight & Sound

The Sun King is dying. After the longest reign in European history, Louis XIV (Jean-Pierre Léaud, subject of a 2014 MIFF retrospective) contracts gangrene and spends his final days confined to his bedchamber. As a procession of visitors pay their respects, Louis comes to terms with his encroaching mortality.

Albert Serra (The Story of My Death, MIFF 14) is a master of patient observation, and this is his most beautifully composed work yet; its dark interiors reminiscent of a renaissance painting. It also features a magnificently subtle central performance: Léaud as a demi-god increasingly incapacitated by disease.

Winner of the 2016 Prix Jean Vigo.