The title of the next movie we will be seeing is The Taking of Power by Louis XIV. For your next blogging assignment, write a post of about 500 words in which you explain how Rossellini, the director, shows Louis “taking power.” To what extent does Rossellini’s depiction fit with your own image of how someone takes power? Are there any scenes that seem to be unrelated to the theme of taking power, and if so, why are they there?
You should submit the blog post by Monday, November 7.
In several scenes Louis XIV is seen flaunting his power. In many cases he is simply completing menial tasks, in which it seems his subjects feel they are obliged to take part in. Such as when he eats a meal, he alone eats, course by course, while his subjects stand by and watch him. He may carry a conversation, inviting a noble to hunt with him. In another instance, he is walking about the garden, and the nobles follow him in a procession.
Another way he shows his power is when he arrests a noble, who is favored by his mother. The noble believed himself to be the next in line for Cardinal, and believe that would be the one truly in charge. Louis XIV obviously does not agree. He emphasizes this by arresting him at his own home, after calling council there.
He also makes the nobles dependent upon him, when he tells them all that they will live in Versailles. He wanted to be all important to his subjects, and when given advice on how to do so, he quickly began to execute this plan.
The final show of power that we see in the movie, is as he begins to disrobe as he reads a book, taking the words to heart, and he seems to compare himself to the sun.