Main Cast: Helmut Berger, Romy Schneider, Trevor Howard, Silvana Mangano, Gert Fröbe
Release Year: 1973
Country: IT/WG/FR
Run Time: 246 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Luchino Visconti (Count don Luchino Visconti di Modrone) was a film director, true, but he was also a nobleman and a grand patron of traditional European culture: opera, art, music, crafts and literature. These interests enliven many of his films, but few have been so inspired as the four-hour epic, Ludwig, about the castle-building "mad king" of Bavaria. This long film, made very near the end of Visconti's life, suffers greatly when shortened, as every moment is essential to the story. There are at least four different versions of the film (from just under three hours to over four hours in length); the uncut four-hour version is the most coherent, even though many might find it rather long. The disintegration of aristocratic individuals is a continuing theme of Visconti's, though Ludwig's is the most thorough decay he filmed. The last ruling king of Bavaria (1845-1886) is noted for many things besides his eccentricities: he sold Bavaria to Germany, ending the rule of the Bavarian monarchy; he built amazing castles all over his country (with the proceeds from the sale); and he was Richard Wagner's main sponsor. He was also a notorious recluse, conducting a lifelong platonic love affair with Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and finally succumbing to his adoration of handsome men in a series of outrageous affairs and orgies. His excesses eventually led to his being declared mentally incompetent and being held prisoner in his own castle. The film depicts this incredible life from his coronation at age 19 to his (unproved) assassination well over 20 years later. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Helmut Griem - Capt. Durcheim; Alexander Allerson; Adriana Asti - Lila Von Buliowski; Maurizio Bonuglia - Mayor; John Moulder-Brown - Prince Otto; Ingrid Caven - Lola Montez (uncredited); Kurt Grosskurth; Gerard Herter; Carla Mancini; Heinz Moog - Prof. Gudden; Umberto Orsini - Count Von Holstein; Sonia Petrova - Sophie; Marc Porel - Richard Hornig; Nora Ricci - Countess Ida Ferenczy; Henning Schluter; Isabella Telezynska - Queen Mother; Louise Vincent; Mark Burns - Hans von Buelow; Folker Bohnet - Joseph Kainz; Manfred Furst; Gernot Moehner
Credit
Mario Chiari - Art Director, Mario Scisci - Art Director, Piero Tosi - Costume Designer, Luchino Visconti - Director, Ruggero Mastroianni - Editor, Robert Gordon Edwards - Executive Producer, Franco Mannino - Composer (Music Score), Franco Mannino - Musical Direction/Supervision, Alberto de Rossi - Makeup, Armando Nannuzzi - Cinematographer, Lucio Trentini - Production Manager, Dieter Geissler - Producer, Ugo Santalucia - Producer, Enzo Eusepi - Set Designer, Giuseppe Muratori - Sound/Sound Designer, Franco Mannino - Supervisor/Manager, Suso Cecchi D'Amico - Screenwriter, Luchino Visconti - Screenwriter, Enrico Medioli - Screenwriter, Jacques Offenbach - Featured Music, Robert Schumann - Featured Music, Richard Wagner - Featured Music
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.
