Ludwig (film)

Ludwig
Original film poster
Directed by	Luchino Visconti
Produced by	Dieter Geissler Ugo Santalucia
Written by	Luchino Visconti Enrico Medioli Suso Cecchi d'Amico
Starring	Helmut Berger Trevor Howard Silvana Mangano Romy Schneider Gert Fröbe John Moulder Brown Marc Porel
Distributed by	MGM-EMI
Release date(s)	Germany: 29 December 1972 Italy: March 7, 1973 United States: 8 March 1973 France: 15 March 1973
Running time	184 min. 235 min. (European cut)
Country	Italy France
Language	Italian French

Ludwig is a 1972 film directed by Italian director Luchino Visconti about the life and death of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Visconti's muse, Helmut Berger, stars as Ludwig, while Romy Schneider reprises her role as Empress Elisabeth of Austria in a very different portrayal compared to her role in the 1950s Sissi trilogy.

Ludwig is a very languidly paced film, but with an impressive sense of tragic crescendo. The fully restored version, running over four hours, builds sympathy in the viewer for Ludwig's decadent, yet ultimately firmly constricted life. Visconti’s meticulous realism gives a bright picture of court life in the nineteenth-century Bavaria and shows with impressive dramatic pathos how a dreamy romantic idealist as Ludwig succumbs to the strenuous and urgent demands of his responsibilities as king. The political sphere of counselors, clergymen, princes and kings, as well as the intricate and often tense relations between the members of the royal family are treated in the film with an acute and refined sensibility to aristocratic decorum and way of living. However, in the 19th century the Bavarian king lacked real political power, causing Ludwig to indulge in his Wagnerian fantasies while more or less ignoring the political reality at the time.

Background notes

The film was made in Munich and other parts of Bavaria, Germany and at these locations: Berg Castle, Castle Herrenchiemsee, Castle Hohenschwangau, Castle Linderhof, Ettal and Neuschwanstein Castle. During filming in Linderhof Castle the temperature in the famed mirror hall got so high that one of the mirrors cracked. As a result, it is to this day the only broken piece in the original decor of the hall.

External links

• Ludwig at the Internet Movie Database