Movie Details

Title

The Taking of Power by Louis XIV

Overview

Cardinal Mazarin dies, leaving a power vacuum in which the young Louis asserts his intention to govern as well as rule. Mazarin's fiscal advisor, Colbert, warns against Fouquet, the Superintendant who has been systematically looting the treasury and wants to be prime minister. Fouquet believes Louis will soon tire of exercizing power and overplays his hand by offering a bribe to Louis' mistress to be his ally. She reports this to the king who arrests Fouquet. Louis and Colbert design a brilliant strategy to keep merchants making money, nobles in debt, the urban poor working and fed, and peasants untaxed. Years later, in a coda, we see Louis exercizing the power of the sun.

Runtime

1 h 30 min

Release Date

8 October 1966

Actors

Jean-Marie Patte, Raymond Jourdan, Silvagni, Katharina Renn, Dominique Vincent, Pierre Barrat, Fernand Fabre, Françoise Ponty, Joëlle Laugeois, Maurice Barrier, André Dumas, François Mirante, Roger Guillo, Louis Raymond, Maurice Bourbon, Michel Ferre, Guy Pintat, Michelle Marquais, Jean-Jacques Daubin, Georges Goubert, Pierre Pernet, Gilette Barbier, Jean Obe, Jacques Charby, Micheline Muc, Michel Debrane, François Bennard, Georges Spanelly, Jean Soustre, Axel Ganz, Jean-Jacques Leconte, Violette Marceau, Paula Dehelly, Jacques Préboist, André Daguenet, Marc Fraiseau, Pierre Frag, Jean Coste, Rita Maiden, Jean-Claude Charnay, Jacqueline Corot, Hélène Manesse

Certification

G

Genres

Drama, History

IMDb