A stumble during a dance marks the end of his career as a performer and the transition into a more distant, rigid monarch.
The narrative is anchored by Jean-Baptiste Lully, the ambitious composer who recognizes that the King’s love for dance is the key to his own advancement.
His obsession with rhythm leads to a freak accident where he strikes his foot with his heavy conducting staff, resulting in a fatal gangrenous infection. Legacy of the "Sun King"
Corbiau uses a "breathless pace" and a "blazing color palette" to mirror the meteoric ascent of both Louis and Lully. However, the film is framed by the somber reality of their physical decline. The same feet that carried them to the heights of glory eventually fail them:
The film also highlights the creative partnership between Lully and Molière, showing how their "comédie-ballets" served as ideological tools to challenge the austere religious traditionalists of the court. Visual and Symbolic Trajectory