The “very strange” Roberto Rosselini movie that Wes Anderson calls a favourite
Wes Anderson has grown a reputation for being a decisive and directional auteur. A figurehead of modern cinema, through his films such as Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums and Darjeeling Limited, he has created an artistic palette that is distinguishable among the films filling our cinemas. More than any other director on the modern roster, he has a vision that few can remove from his name. He is definable only by his own creativity.
It makes his viewpoint on cinema all the more beguiling for his fans. The reality is, that if Wes Anderson likes or loathes a certain film, there is a good chance that it has influenced his own work. One such film that can be traced from its original release directly into the work of Anderson is the Roberto Rosselini masterpiece, The Taking of Power by Louis XIV. The film is considered one of the legendary titles in Italian cinema and connected with Anderson in a profound way.
Near destined for filmmaking success after his father built the first cinema in Rome, the ‘Barberini’, Roberto Rossellini was a master of Italian Neorealism, taking post-war cinema by the scruff of its neck with films such as Rome, Open City, Paisan and Germany, Year Zero. With a particular interest in telling stories of ordinary lives devastated by the effects of WWII early in his career, through the 1960s and his career end, he became increasingly infatuated with the unconventional, constantly experimenting with new styles and techniques.
In 1962, Roberto Rossellini announced at a press conference in a bookshop in Rome that “cinema was dead”, explaining that “there’s a crisis not just in film but culture as a whole.” It would see the iconic director remove himself from the mausoleum of the silver screen and turn his attention to a smaller screen; television. In search of, as he stated, “mankind’s path in search of truth,” Rosselini turned his back on cinema and headed into TV, making The Taking of Power by Louis XIV, his first television feature film.
Unlike any of Rosselini’s previous films in narrative, yet retaining his stark, realistic style utilising non-professional actors, the film tracks a young king Louis XIV asserting his power on the aristocracy after the death of Cardinal Mazarin. Taking place almost entirely in the vicinity of Sun King’s court, Rosselini’s film is an intriguing and redemptive film, filling in an overshadowed yet powerful section of French history.
For Wes Anderson, it represented something weird and wonderful. Picking the flick out as part of a conversation with Criterion, Anderson said of the film: “This is a wonderful and very strange movie. I had never heard of it. The man who plays Louis cannot give a convincing line reading, even to the ears of someone who can’t speak French—and yet he is fascinating. I was in his corner from start to finish (which comes unexpectedly—I thought there had to be at least another hour and a half to go when ‘Fin’ came up). Mainly, he just walks in and out of rooms and dresses and undresses. I want to watch it again! What does good acting actually mean? Who is this Tag Gallagher?”
While it wouldn’t necessarily be fair to cast aspersion about the acting performances of Wes Anderson’s actors, it is easy to draw a comparison to the baffling characterisations in Rosselini’s movie and the roles Anderson has written over the years. Whether it be the maniacal Max Fischer from Rushmore, the enigmatic Steve Zissou in The Life Aquatic or the entire cast of The Royal Tenenbaums, Anderson has made a career of creating roles for which actors need to forget the reality they live in and dive headfirst into the world the director has created.
So, if you’re looking for a movie to introduce you to the Venn diagram of the Italian masters and the world of Wes Anderson, there is no better entry point than Roberto Rosselini’s The Taking of Power by Louis XIV.
