Le roi danse (2000)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Gérard Corbiau

Writers:

Ève de Castro (scenario, adaptation and dialogue) &
Andrée Corbiau (scenario, adaptation and dialogue) ...

Release Date:

6 December 2000 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama | History | Music

Plot:

Corbiau repeats the Farinelli formula, artistic rivalry and social private drama expressed in dazzling...

Plot Keywords:

Court | Baroque | Italian | Fatal Accident | Composer

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Benoît Magimel	...	Louis XIV
Boris Terral	...	Jean-Baptiste Lully
Tchéky Karyo	...	Molière
Colette Emmanuelle	...	Anne d'Autriche
Cécile Bois	...	Madeleine
Claire Keim	...	Julie
Johan Leysen	...	Cambert
Idwig Stephane	...	Prince de Conti
Emil Tarding	...	Louis XIV (14 Years Old)
Jacques François	...	Cambefort
Caroline Veyt	...	Armande Béjart
Ingrid Rouif	...	Mme de Montespan
Philippe Quercy	...	Mazuel
Pierre Gérald	...	Boesset
Claude Koener	...	Narrator of Ballet de la Nuit

Also Known As:

Der König tanzt (Germany) (Berlin film festival title)
The King Dances (Canada: English title)
The King Is Dancing (International: English title)

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

France | Germany | Belgium

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:MA (cable rating) | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Company:

K-Star

Soundtrack:

Te Deums: Symphonie

Dance with a wolf.

This movie focuses on one side of Louis the fourteenth's reign:the patron Sun King.All the best artists who were living at the time were working for the King,from the painters to the musicians to the chefs (see "Vatel" whom Louis stole from Fouquet).

Although a lot of famous historic characters appear (Colbert,Louvois,La Vallière,Maintenon),only five emerge :the threesome KIng/Lulli/Molière and ,at the beginning, two silhouettes ,the Queen mother,Anne d'Autriche ,and the king's cousin,Conti.

The king,played with talent by Benoit Magimel,who shows himself a first-class dancer ,is not exactly the king we find in history books:okay,he rules alone,but a lot of time is given over to arts ..in the first part of his reign,the king was first a soldier :the fine arts connoisseur came only second.(music,dance,gardens...).

Lulli (or Lully depending on whom you ask)was an Italian,so it's very surprising -and it's the main flaw of the whole film- he speaks without the slightest accent.Of course,and probably because c'est à la mode,the director doesn't pass over Lully's homosexuality but he does not lay great stress on it,preferring to give music more than its due:Lully's was majestic and magnificent,the KIng Music par excellence.

Tcheky Kario shines as Molière and gives what will probably be his lifetime role.A jaded and coughing actor/playwright/director whose genius was still brilliant,he had to cope with sanctimonious persons (les dévôts de la compagnie du Saint-Sacrement)and leter with Lully's jealousy.

The last Lully -Molière collaboration,"le bourgeois gentilhomme" (arguably Molière's funniest work),made Molière a visionary who was beginning to see theater as a complete show .The Turkish ceremony " in "le bourgeois gentilhomme" and its celebrated menuet (sadly not included in the film) were forerunners of the musicals.But Lully,who played the "Mufti" in the play ,felt like a buffoon and feared that the king might favor Molière over him.

Lully wanted to be a king and" a king ain't satisfied till he owns everything "as Bruce Springsteen sings ,so the dancer became a wolf .Molière was not his one victim :he actually put down all his rivals and had a complete stranglehold on the king's music.

Some users complain about Courbiau's baroque style:since at least one third of the time is dedicated to arts ,what's the point of being realist and austere ?We're not dealing with Rossellini directing "la prise du pouvoir par LOuis XIV",dash it! Okay ,some sequences are ponderous -Molière's death on stage while playing "le malade imaginaire" did not need this dancers dressed up as skeletons,for instance.But if cinema means change of scenery,"le roi danse" pulls it off with gusto.