Not many films get made about Louis XIV, even in France. One reason is that this is a confusing period of French history. Yet, Louis, enfant roi does a good job in trying to introduce it to us.
The king is a child of ten. The nobility and the populace are rebelling. The Queen mother is a Spaniard (played by a Spanish actress with the necessary accent) and France is at war with Spain. The prime minister Cardinal Mazarin is an Italian (played by an Italian actor, etc.) The king's relatives are demanding a share of power while behaving like a pillaging army. Amorality abounds and no one can be trusted. Louis XIV learned how to rule in this atmosphere.
As the film progresses, we see the young king turn into an adolescent leading troops in the field and learn his craft. He loved his mother and trusted Mazarin, but nobody else, not even his brother. As a child he learned to suspect everyone and this was how he ruled.
This is a good film with the budget to support it, unlike Rossellini's La Prise du Pouvoir. It just requires a little knowledge to understand.
The king is a child of ten. The nobility and the populace are rebelling. The Queen mother is a Spaniard (played by a Spanish actress with the necessary accent) and France is at war with Spain. The prime minister Cardinal Mazarin is an Italian (played by an Italian actor, etc.) The king's relatives are demanding a share of power while behaving like a pillaging army. Amorality abounds and no one can be trusted. Louis XIV learned how to rule in this atmosphere.
As the film progresses, we see the young king turn into an adolescent leading troops in the field and learn his craft. He loved his mother and trusted Mazarin, but nobody else, not even his brother. As a child he learned to suspect everyone and this was how he ruled.
This is a good film with the budget to support it, unlike Rossellini's La Prise du Pouvoir. It just requires a little knowledge to understand.