The famous French saying, After me, the flood”) has often been attributed to Louis XV, who used it to express his total disinterest in what would happen to the world after his own demise. If things fell apart, well, too bad. And yet it’s the king’s own grandson, Louis XVI, who was ousted from power during the French Revolution and died on the guillotine, to whom the quote is most applicable.
His death, as well as that of his wife, Marie-Antoinette, marked the end of the monarchy and the height of the Reign of Terror. It was also the start of one of the first modern democracies, with all its grandeurs and flaws. The unpleasant final days of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette are the subject of ( ), by Italian director Gianluca Jodice ( ), who focuses solely on the period in which the royal pair were held prisoner before their very public executions — although only Louis’ death is accounted for here.
It’s a subject that’s been given peripheral treatment in numerous other historical dramas, ranging from Jean Renoir’s to Sofia Coppola’s to Benoît Jacquot’s , that usually depict the king’s and queen’s lives before their fall from grace. In this retelling, the two have already hit rock bottom and are left to deal with the consequences, sequestered along with their children and a few loyal servants in the Temple Prison, a dingy fortress located in the center of Paris. Forced to contend with their troubled marriage, their loss of immense wealth and the end of ne.