Albert Serra

THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV

France, Portugal, Spain, 2016, 115′

Death and suffering don’t spare the mighty, not even absolute monarchs: In August 1715, King Louis XIV., the Sun King, suddenly feels a pain in his leg. He spends the next days in his chambers, running the government as best he can as death gradually draws closer. – An opulent costume film as chamber play, a dance of death for a bedridden autocrat.

Born in 1975 in Banyoles, Albert Serra is a Catalan artist. Degree in Spanish Philology and Theory of Literature from Barcelona university, he writes plays and directs various video works. In 2006, he acquired an international reputation with his second feature, HONOR OF THE KNIGHTS (QUIXOTIC), selected by the Cahiers du Cinema as being part of the 10 best films of 2007. Dandy neorealist Albert Serra is a UFO in the European film scene. He uses his films to revisit myths and literature of the old continent. In 2013, a retrospective from all his work is organized by the Pompidou Centre. The same year he receives Locarno’s Golden Leopard for STORY OF MY DEATH. In 2016, THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV was part of the official selection in Cannes.

Karaman Cinema, Saturday 17/9, 20:45