just watch it!

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but it's historical accuracy was criticized vehemently by Benoît A. Racine (baracine@idirect.com) from Toronto, Ontario, Canada that I decided to say that this movie was recommended to me by a professor of French History & Literature from Stanford University. I'll write again later with my review, but from what I was told this is an excellent example of court life. Apparently the dances, rivalry between the artists and life as a boy king are well represented in light of this particular period of their lives. To sum, based on the reviews most people thought the film was a beautiful, now you know that the essence of it is based on historical fact as well. I guess that history can be fun after all!

I happen to think this is a movie well worth watching. The historical aspect isn't so boring as a viewer might suspect (and unlike some believe, there is actually quite a bit of historical fact). This film has a way of making it fun and exciting, even with the politics of the day playing a prominent role. Another thing I really liked about it, was the amazing, and I do mean amazing, visual style. The film is chock full of style and pinache. The costumes are incredible, the music is excellent (particularly if you're a fan of the Baroque), and the theatrics are just... beautiful! It's a beautifully crafted film, well acted, and wonderful to look at. I'd almost say it's the kind of film that's less of a movie and more of an experience. I could actually see this being performed on stage, if that helps to describe it. Truly a neat movie and I feel lucky to have seen it. I'd have to give it ****1/2 out of *****, just on visuals alone.

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.

Having purchased the CD of Le Roi Danse, I was looking forward to the film. At last it was on in Norwich on Tuesday 17th September and I was very impressed with the story-line, acting, and of course the music. It begins with Lully preparing to conduct his sumptuous music whilst waiting for the King. Being very impatient, he begins without him, and subsequently stabs himself in the foot, which ultimately leads to his death. The film then drifts back to his introduction to the court of Louis 14th - The Sun King with all its' splendour. If you love the music of Lully, you will not be disappointed. I am hoping that this film can be purchased, either on VHS or DVD - I would certainly buy it.