“L’état, c’est moi.” (“I am the State.”)
– A line attributed to King Louis XIV of France – a line that he may or may not have actually said, but which nonetheless seems to accurately express his views on government (and himself)
Aerial view of the Palace of Versailles
A film about three kings of France, one of whom was executed …
In 1643, a new king was crowned in France. Officially, he would be known as Louis the Fourteenth, but he is also known by the nickname of “Le Roi Soleil” (or “The Sun King”). Some consider him the longest-reigning absolute monarch in history. The term “absolute” is appropriate here, because he ruled with an iron fist. But this film doesn’t just cover him – they also cover two other kings as well, both of whom were his descendants. One was Louis the Fifteenth, who is known by the nickname “Louis le Bien-Aimé” (“Louis the Beloved”). This nickname is somewhat ironic, because he became somewhat unpopular later on. And the other king was Louis the Sixteenth, who is best known for dying by the guillotine, when he was executed during the French Revolution. They were three kings in a row, with no other kings in between – either by the name “Louis,” or by any other name. Together, they reigned for a period of nearly a century and a half.
Execution of King Louis the Sixteenth by the guillotine, 1793
They also give the architectural history of the magnificent Versailles Palace
But this film isn’t just a history of these three kings – it is also a history of the palace with which they were associated. The Versailles Palace was one of the great wonders of the Enlightenment world. It is an architectural masterpiece. Thus, this film is filled with architectural history of the magnificent palace. But the palace was made at great expense to the ordinary people of France, who had to foot the bill for their monarchy’s extravagance. Its construction actually began somewhat earlier under Louis the Thirteenth, but it was Louis the Fourteenth who built it up, and turned it into a seat of government. This is the story that they most wanted to focus on here. It continued to be the seat of government until 1789, at which time the royal family instead moved to Paris, where it had lived some generations before. They do not attempt to tell the history of the palace after the French Revolution, but instead focus on a more prominent period – namely, the period in which these three kings reigned.
Hall of Mirrors, at the Palace of Versailles
This is a French film, made in the French language
I should first note that this is a French film. This means not only that it was made in France, but that it was made in the French language as well. My oral French is a little rusty, since I haven’t taken a French class since 2006. Although I can read the language fairly well, I knew going into this that I would not understand the dialogue at a very deep level. Thus, I was glad that it had some English subtitles for the benefit of people like me. This helped me to get something out of this film, despite the language barriers that it imposed for me. I should note that this film does not have an English-language audio track, so any English speakers without knowledge of French would have to rely on the subtitles, as I did.
Gardens of Versailles
Louis XIV – “Versailles, Le Rêve d’un Roi” (or “Versailles, The Dream of a King”)
The main features are all by a director named Thierry Binisti. The first film in this trilogy is called “Versailles, Le Rêve d’un Roi” (or “Versailles, The Dream of a King”). To a large degree, this film covers the reign of Louis the Fourteenth. But to an even greater degree, it tells the story of how the palace was constructed, as mentioned earlier. In this particular installment, their political story is almost incidental to the architectural coverage. They show how he was an absolute monarch, and how he built this palace at great expense to his people. Local rivers were drained to pump water out of his palace’s fountains, and the financial costs of its construction seemed to be limitless. The king and his nobles lived in magnificent splendor, while the ordinary people lived in poverty. Louis the Fourteenth was not without some intelligence, but he did not tolerate dissent, and was a tyrannical ruler. Anyone who went against him took their lives into their hands, as this film shows in its (very well-done) re-enactments.
Louis the Fourteenth
“Versailles, la Galerie des Glaces mise à nu” (“The other side of the Hall of Mirrors”)
The special features for this part of the film are collectively titled “Versailles, la Galerie des Glaces mise à nu” (which they translate as “The other side of the Hall of Mirrors”). This film is made by a different director named Michel Quinejure. Basically, this film is a more modern documentary about the restoration of the Versailles Palace in the twenty-first century. Architectural historians will probably enjoy this, since this restoration process could be a bit complicated. It had to balance the need to restore things to how they had been before, with the need to preserve things as they already were whenever possible. One version of this special feature is a summarized version, while the other is a longer series of vignettes that were used as the ingredients for the summarized version. I do not recommend watching either version of this special feature, unless you’re really into archeology or architectural history. People whose interests lie more in re-enactments of the history involved would be better off to stick with the main features for this series.
Louis the Fourteenth
“Louis XV, Le Soleil Noir” (or “Louis XV, The Black Sun”)
I will now switch back to the main features for a moment. The next film in the Thierry Binisti trilogy was called “Louis XV, Le Soleil Noir” (or “Louis XV, The Black Sun”). Basically, it focuses on the life of Louis the Fifteenth, and how his life influenced the architectural history of the palace. But they also give some analysis of his reign, making this film’s focus a bit more political than that of its predecessor. Louis the Fifteenth’s reign allowed for somewhat more freedom of speech than his famous great-grandfather had allowed. None of Louis the Fourteenth’s children or grandchildren had ever assumed the throne, so it instead devolved upon his great-grandson (the future Louis the Fifteenth) to succeed him. Louis the Fifteenth had to live in the shadow of his great-grandfather, with whom he was often unfavorably contrasted. Unlike his great-grandfather, he didn’t seem that interested in ruling, since he preferred a quieter life of escaping and shameless womanizing. He tends not to be remembered much today, other than being “the guy between Louis the Fourteenth and Louis the Sixteenth” (to paraphrase what people say). Nonetheless, this film fleshes him out in some detail – and shows that he, too, was an interesting figure, even if not always sympathetic. (And he wasn’t always, despite his higher tolerance for freedom of speech – but that’s a subject for another post, which I may or may not write.)
Louis the Fifteenth
“Versailles, la vie dorée” (“Versailles, the Golden Life”)
The special feature for this installment is called “Versailles, la vie dorée” (“Versailles, the Golden Life”). It is directed by Frédéric Compain. This film talks somewhat about how the main feature was made, even interviewing a number of people who were involved in making it. At this time, the main feature was still being completed, so there’s an on-set, “behind the scenes” feel to this particular special feature. But it doesn’t just talk about the making of the main feature – it also talks somewhat about life in the eighteenth century (a much broader topic). This was the part of the special feature that most interested me personally. One regrets that such a special feature was not made for their earlier installment on Louis the Fourteenth. I suppose that they were not expecting their earlier installment to be such a success, and thus felt no need to document their filmmaking process at that time. But this complaint is a small matter, since this special feature is quite good, and gives a window into the era’s everyday life (at least at the palace). It is an interesting film for history buffs.
Louis the Fifteenth
“Louis XVI, l’homme qui ne voulait pas être roi” (“Louis XVI, the man who did not want to be king”)
I will now switch back to the main features for a moment. The last film in the Thierry Binisti trilogy is called “Louis XVI, l’homme qui ne voulait pas être roi” (“Louis XVI, the man who did not want to be king”). Louis the Sixteenth had a short reign compared to his two predecessors – less than twenty years. (The others had reigns of 59 years and 72 years, respectively.) Ironically, he is not as well-known as his wife Marie Antoinette, whom I have covered elsewhere. But as mentioned earlier, both of them were executed by the guillotine during the French Revolution. This film tries to answer why.
Marie Antoinette, the wife of Louis the Sixteenth
One of the surprises for me was how much time they spent on the American Revolution. Louis the Sixteenth was initially reluctant to support the American rebels, but was later persuaded to change his mind when the Americans won a famous victory at Saratoga. This convinced France to enter the war, and fight their old enemies, the British. The result of this war (for them, at least) was to empty the French treasury. This exacerbated an already-bad economic situation in France.
Louis the Sixteenth himself
This film may be the most dramatic of the installments in the Thierry Binisti trilogy. At times, they seem almost too sympathetic with him. But you begin to see why his people eventually revolted against him, and overthrew the French monarchy – at least temporarily. Ironically, the monarchy was later restored after the first fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, but they don’t really go into this here. This is a film about how the Bourbon monarchy was overthrown, not about how it was restored. Incidentally, they focus mostly on what led up to the French Revolution, and do not give much coverage of the Revolution itself.
Louis the Sixteenth
“Tête a tête avec Louis XVI” ( “Tête a tête with Louis XVI”)
The special feature for this film is called “Tête a tête avec Louis XVI” (which they translate as “Tête a tête with Louis XVI”). “Tête” is the French word for “head,” but “tête a tête” translates more loosely as “a private conversation between two people.” Given that Louis the Sixteenth has been dead for two centuries, one presumes that they are using this phrase in a figurative sense. Like the previous special feature, this film is directed by Frédéric Compain, and talks briefly about the making of the main feature. Again, there is an on-set, “behind the scenes” feel to this special feature. But to a lesser extent, they also discuss the reign of Louis the Sixteenth himself – a much broader topic. The “Louis the Sixteenth” main film has a more political focus than the others, talking about the politics to the near-exclusion of the architectural history. Thus, this special feature follows suit, and focuses more on the politics leading up to the French Revolution.
Execution of Marie Antoinette by the guillotine (1793), nine months after her husband’s death
Warnings about nudity and sexuality in this series
The series as a whole is quite good, especially the main features. But I should caution viewers about the frequency of nudity and sexuality in this series. The installment on Louis the Fifteenth is the worst for this, because of his promiscuous ways. But the other two installments also had some inappropriate scenes that I had to look away from. If you have young children in your household, you might be especially careful about watching this with them around.
Conclusion: This is a good series overall, with the main features being especially good
As a whole, though, this is a good film, if you either speak French or are okay with reading the English subtitles. You will learn much, and see this remarkable period of history come to life, in a way that you are unlikely to have seen before.
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