Ludwig (1973)

The reign of the tormented Ludwig, king of Bavaria, from 1864 to 1886.

Director:

Luchino Visconti

Writers:

Luchino Visconti (story and screenplay), Enrico Medioli (story and screenplay)

Stars:

Helmut Berger, Romy Schneider, Trevor Howard

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Helmut Berger	...	Ludwig
Romy Schneider	...	Elisabeth of Austria
Trevor Howard	...	Richard Wagner
Silvana Mangano	...	Cosima Von Bülow
Gert Fröbe	...	Father Hoffman
Helmut Griem	...	Dürckheim
Izabella Telezynska	...	Queen Mother
Umberto Orsini	...	Count Von Holnstein
John Moulder-Brown	...	Prince Otto (as John Moulder Brown)
Sonia Petrovna	...	Sophie (as Sonia Petrova)
Folker Bohnet	...	Joseph Kainz
Heinz Moog	...	Professor Von Gudden
Adriana Asti	...	Lila Von Buliowski
Marc Porel	...	Richard Hornig
Nora Ricci	...	Countess Ida Ferenczy

Storyline

Historical evocation of Ludwig, king of Bavaria, from his crowning in 1864 until his death in 1886, as a romantic hero. Fan of Richard Wagner, betrayed by him, in love with his cousin Elisabeth of Austria, abandonned by her, tormented by his homosexuality, he will little by little slip towards madness.

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Plot Keywords:

king | richard wagner | madness | epic | idee fixe | 

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Taglines:

Ludwig. He loved women. He loved men. He lived as controversially as he ruled. But he did not care what the world thought. He was the world. From Luchino Visconti, the director of "The Damned" and "Death in Venice". Once again your eyes will be opened.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Italy France West Germany

Language:

Italian German French

Release Date:

8 March 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ludwig: The Mad King of Bavaria

Filming Locations:

Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mega Film,Cinétel,Dieter Geissler Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

238 min 186 min (original) 144 min (original) 185 min (original) 133 min (Press Sheet)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Visconti had wanted Laurence Olivier for the Trevor Howard part.

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Alternate Versions

Complete original European version runs 236 minutes; shortened to 173 minutes for US release.

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Connections

Referenced in Costumes from the Films of Visconti (1978)

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Soundtracks

Prelude
to "Lohengrin"
Written by Richard Wagner

User Reviews

Four hours of perfection

From the start of the film when Ludwig, the newly crowned King of Bavaria, is shown in his youth, it's made clear by the narration that he will go mad and eventually be interned for his own safety. From the start this circumstance hangs melancholically over the film.

Romy Schneider made a career out of playing unobtainable women, but here, as Elisabeth/Sissi, Empress of Austria, she may as well be ensconced in a quartz grotto at the top of the Himalayas, surrounded by precipice and acres of stone for all the chance Ludwig has of winning her. Perhaps that is how Ludwig imagines her when he sleeps at night. Sissi hates to be taken for granted, she avoids family get-togethers and official engagements, and makes her presence always a cherished unannounced surprise. She speaks loosely of sexual encounters with her grooms whilst encouraging a certain intimacy yet always maintains a distance from serious discourse or lovemaking. She is the worst nightmare of every man. Ludwig is stretched out on tenterhooks. The introductory scene is my favourite, Sissi playing dressage in a circus ring, delighting in the control of her horse, her face lost amongst pastel lights, a part of her life that encapsulates the whole of her life.

Ludwig's relations, or lack of relations with women during the film is crushingly sad. It seems finally a bewilderment with them that leads him into the arms of beings he can understand - men. Stricken and alone, finally he even refuses to meet Sissi, for once come not to tease, and it made my heart break.

With a government content to do without him, Ludwig withdraws into a fantasia of his own, rejecting materialism, seeking to live beyond bestial factuality, to transcend via the golden barque of the arts. Alongside several architectural commissions, he also became a stream of golden coins, flowing into the coffers of Richard Wagner, who he set up in a house of unbelievable opulence, and provided finance to for the building of the great opera house at Bayreuth, and the staging of several operas. The scenes with Wagner become almost a film within a film, although Ludwig appears the more extraordinary, if only via an accident of birth.

I was au fait with both the idea and the execution of Italian dialogue in the mouths of Germans, however I was uneasy going into this movie that it would feel Italian. Luckily Visconti does manage to keep an authentic feel, though one notable lapse for me is Count von Holnstein, who the credits confirmed to me was played by an Italian, Umberto Orsini. Holnstein is the minister who was largely responsible for orchestrating the downfall of Ludwig. In this movie Orsini's manner of speaking, his delivery and facial expressions are quintessentially Italian, even his lines have all the pomposity and false sincerity that Italian officialdom can muster. Only a quibble in a film that I felt like I was living.

Quite an astounding experience.