As a deeply interest on European's history, I'd already knew about this mad king of the Bavaria a long time ago, Ludwig just came at my hands this years and was too long, then I had decided spent the last friday night watching this restored Visconti's masterpiece, what a great movie indeed, but the cut off version stayed lame and was a flop at release time, assembled again it's was the closest that they could get as early Visconti's concept, the king Ludwig was presented as a lunatic man for arts, sponsored the financial excesses of Richard Wagner, and drained the already rundown Bavaria's treasury on those useless Castles which he dares to build in exchange of the penury of his people, also Visconti alludes the decaying process of a King who wasn't linked with reality at all, he living in a parallel world as screened, plus Visconti was visionary when cast Helmut Berger whose had an extremely sameness with the real Ludwig, what a lucky, just mourns a small appearance of Sissi (Romy Schneider) on the plot for obvious reasons, furthermore exposes the odd Ludwig's weakness as his shy behavior and how he handles with your latent homosexuality as well, the history as a whole teach us that the ordinary statesmen rarely go down in history, instead those mad rulers that through their wacky minds were often recalled, aside be too long more than four hours the picture doesn't tired me, due so valuable asset to understand the German merger and how it really did happens, it gave me priceless clues for whom Germany deserves his unification, apart the Ludwig the mad the movie brings to light the German's history!!

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First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 9

You could tell that Director Viconti and the rest of the crew really cared about this movie and worked very hard. This would account for the beautifully re-created scenes from the life of King Luwig II of Bavaria,...and it would account for the movie lasting almost 4 hours!! I actually LIKE movies that are 3-4 hours long--provided the subject matter is compelling. For example, in Ben Hur, there is so much action and so much plot that 3 hours plus is indeed warranted. BUT, with LUDWIG, it seems like there is just too much padding and dry scenes that could have either been excised or shortened. For example, the first scene where we see Ludwig is when he is about to be crowned. Instead of simply showing the crowning, we see the members of the delegation slowly enter the room and we see them wait for Ludwig while he gets dressed. Was this really necessary? Plus, although too much of the bland is included, there is a major omission that seems inexplicable. Ludwig was a homosexual and had a long series of sexual encounters (followed by internal contrition and self-loathing). But none of this was directly dealt with--only very mildly implied. In fact, although we know he was gay, the movie instead implied that he was sexually attracted to his über-famous cousin, Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary (a VERY strange woman in real life who appears very normal in this movie). My assumption is that because the film was made in 1972, they were afraid to broach the issue of homosexuality, but considering the emotional toll it took on Ludwig, it seems dishonest to ignore it.

Historical evocation of Ludwig, king of Bavaria (Helmut Berger),from his crowning in 1864 until his death in 1886, as a romantic hero. Fan of Richard Wagner (Trevor Howard),betrayed by him, in love with his cousin Elisabeth of Austria (Romy Schneider),abandoned by her, tormented by his homosexuality (or bisexuality?),he will little by little slip towards madness.

Special attention must first be drawn to Romy Schneider, who reprises her role as Empress Elisabeth of Austria (from the 1955 film "Sissi" and its two sequels). Playing the same role four times? Admirable... not uncommon, perhaps, but it definitely makes it a character you know deep in your soul. Perhaps this story should have been told from her angle?

This really is a European epic. The "epic film" seems to be mainly an American thing, or somethings a British thing, but not typically a continental thing. This is the exception, and it really chronicles a man who is no longer very well known. I am not sure why, other than that perhaps the Bavarian monarchy doesn't really resonate with modern audiences. Though many films have been made about Ludwig, the fact remains his bloodline is quite distant from any ruling family.

The late, great critic Roger Ebert was not a fan of the film, or Visconti in general. He said of this feature that "the movie is so lethargic and persistently uninteresting" and considered it "merciful" to see it cut in order to avoid endless amounts of "penetrating stares". Ebert may have never come around to loving the film (he gave it one star),but its reputation has grown over the years.

Luckily for fans, Arrow Academy has given "Ludwig" the royal treatment. A 4K scan of the negative makes the picture look better than it ever has. And, of course, Arrow packs the film with extras: an interview with Helmut Berger, an interview with legendary screenwriter Suso Cecchi d'Amico ("Bicycle Thieves" and many others). A half-hour look at actress Silvana Mangano ("Bitter Rice") and a full hour on Luchino Visconti.