Customer Reviews

Ludwig [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

An absolute perfect film by craftsman Luchino Visconti about the "Mad" King of Bavaria, Ludwig the second, played flawlessly by Helmut Berger. We go thru Ludwig's entire reign as King up till the time when he meets the love of his life,Empress Elizabeth (Romy Schneider, who's performances deserved an Oscar nomination, her pressence brings a certain uniqueness to every scene), his associating with Richard Wagner (Trevor Howard), and his angagement to Sophie (Sonia Petrowa). Every scene in this movie is perfectly done. The acting is amazing and superb, the costume designs by Piero Tosi and the production designs by Mario Chiari and Mario Scisci are fantastic and beautiful. The musical score by Schunann, Wagner, and Offenbach complements each and every scene by adding the emotional impact on every scene. The cinematography by Armando Nannuzzi is masterful and dazzling. And of course the directing by Visconti is incredible. He setsup everything in a way only he can. The screenplay by Enrico Mediolo and Visconti is intriguing. I can't think one of bad thing about this film, every second of it is flawless. Even though it's about 4 hours, none of it is wasted. But, I'm afraid due to the lenght of the film, some may avoid seeing it. This is the same fate Bertolucci's "1900" suffered. Also, this isn't as widely known as other Visconti films such as "The Leopard", "Death In Venice" and "The Innocent". Which, I can't understand why. This movie, in my opinion, is better than all three movies I just mentioned! It's an embracive,heartfelt, bittersweet movie, that stands as one of the greatest of all time. Every movielover should hurry up and buy this movie. No one will be disappointed with this movie, I can 100% assure it!

I disagree completely with Martin's review that Ludwig is a character so cold that no one feels any symathy for. But I do think that you have to have prerequisites to see this movie otherwise you won't appreciate it: you must be a Wagner's fan and generally you have to love art, you need to know the Tannhauser and Tristan und Isolde operas, you need to know a story of Richard Wagner and Cosima von Bulow; you need to know something about Austrian Empress Elisabeth, and you better have visited Ludwig's castels in Bavaria and also the city of Munich. Ludwig was an unusual man, and it would be inappropriate to judge him by ordinary standards. A great Visconti film, and if you like Death in Venice, you shoudl try this one, too.

Ludwig in the original 1973 theatrical release was 246 minutes, as opposed to the present abridged version of 186 minutes. This historically faithful bio-drama was in English, while the recent release is dubbed Italian with English subtitles. (Practice your lip-reading and you will find in this edition the lip movement is English.) I find it difficult to comprehend why this Visconti masterpiece was released with dubbed Italian, and why the editing was so savage. The most serious omission is the entirely deleted epilogue which reveals that Ludwig's corpse had multiple bullet wounds when it was retrieved from Lake Starnberg. Why cut these minutes of historic fact ? This film was conceived as a masterpiece, but now it is turning into a compounded major mystery. I prefer the magnificent and coherent original version as Visconti released it, in English, -- all 246 minutes

After viewing the film Wagner with Richard Burton, I decided to learn a little more about King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and rented Ludwig at my local video store. This film is a masterpiece! Visconti's use of darkness and shadows added to the already tragic figure of the "mad king". Helmut Berger was absolutely amazing as Ludwig, the tormented, sad monarch who found himself more enchanted with the music of Wagner that with the role he played in history. He longed to be the The Swan King instead. Unfortunately the video appeared to have been filmed in English, then dubbed in Italian, then subtitled in English! I would love to hear the original version. This video is much too expensive to buy also. But, do rent it. Whatever happened to Helmut Berger?

Here is another reason you shouldn't listen to the film critics. How can someone have a good knowledge about films (if he really knows SOMETHING about films) not appreciate this fine piece of cinematic art? I saw this film on television another night. It was breathtaking! So hauntingly beautiful! I love the way it directed the story, so vividly, so gentle. Although this is a very dark story, and a tragedy, too, you don't feel being punched violently on the heart, which is a very nice way to tell this kind of story. The idea of cinematic art isn't really to bring the shock and excitement to the world, it's about story telling, about the truth of humanities. And I think this film did achieve that very goal. It portray Ludwig's complicated character from various angles. He is a dark character, his blind passion of music and art drove him into deep despair and his countury in crisis, but see how heartbroken he was when he saw his illed brother. He is not a bad person, just born at the wrong time, wrong place. The finale was a bit cut short, I felt there should have been something more. But I'm telling you, this is one of the finest film I'd ever seen. Don't worry about the background knowledge, just take your time, see it with your heart.

Visconti has made a series of great artistic movies, and "ludwig' is one of them, along with 'leopard', 'death in venice', 'the damned', 'rocco and his brothers', among others. This is not a movie for everyone. However, if you are a serious movie buff, this is a must see. The cinematography and set decorations are amazing. And Helmut Berger gave a stunning performance. This underrated actor gave a series of excellent performances in the late 60s and early 70s, but no imformation was available about him. He has to be one of the most beautiful actors that ever graced the screen.

This is marvellous costume drama set in the later nineteenth century, based on the life of the eccentric and fanciful King Ludwig of Bavaria, and set in the splendid palaces and castles that he had constructed according to his whimsically romantic tastes. He is always in search of an ideal fulfillment and love that he cannot find in the world, from which he thus finds himself increasingly detached. His amorous tastes are clearly homoerotic, but he cannot even find what he is looking for in that way either, partly because he cannot find any potential lover whose Romantic sensibility and moody melancholy matches his own. He retreats into his fantasies, expressed through his subsidies of Richard Wagner, his elaborate building programs, and otherwise. And this personal story is juxtaposed with the political context of Prussian ambitions for a greater unified Germany that result in Bavaria's loss of independence. There is thus an atmosphere of foreboding, so that the story is an elegy for a vanished Europe, soon to be lost in the cataclysms of the First and Second World Wars. The effect is ultimately bittersweet and tragic--Ludwig is a man of great imagination, in some ways a poet, unsuited to be king, upon whom the world closes in and finally crushes. Visconti is a great director and this is a great film: not to everyone's tastes, but then what is. Stuff like Titanic is what sells. Visconti's directorial style is perhaps best described as full-blown operatic--very lush, magnificently staged, wonderful to watch just for that, and yet there's much more going on. This is one of the films I love.

I have read a considerable amount of material on the life of the tragic Ludwig II of Bavaria. Enough to be totally captivated by the man and his dedication to a life of art and music. For sure, he had many flaws like other leaders, but he was a man made for a future era and was born before his time. This Visconti film had tremendous potential to bring out the truth about this famous eccentric who was in love with the night and was only interested in building castles to fill a romantic vision of Germanic mythology. Unfortunately it fails to communicate properly about the man to the audience. The actor chosen for the role, Helmut Berger, was good. The potential was there, but it falls short. I was much more intrigued by the scenes of Ludwig that were filmed for Richard Burton's "Wagner", and in those short glimpses we understood much more about Ludwig than you will discover in this long film. Especially helpful were the scenes that showed discussions between staffers under Ludwig's employ and the plotting of greedy people. "Wagner" came close but was limited because it was after all a movie about Wagner's whole life. This attempt from 1970 started on the right track with location scenery but appears to be disconnected regarding scenes of Ludwig's life leaving us out of the plot. So much so that to some it appears to be a lot of dark photography of a brooding Ludwig hiding in his castle until the guards come to place him under arrest. Someday I expect the King will be given the full film treatment that he deserves but until now that day has yet to arrive.

I don't believe Visconti ever did a film that wasn't perfect. His "Death in Venice" is the only case where I love the film as much as the book. Of course "Ludwig" is long - and I believe the complete version can only be found in Europe - but in the end I only wished it was longer. There is a longer cut, but I don't think it's available on video - I saw it, years and years ago, on the TV. This amazing film shows us a man that, powerful as he is, is also fragile and confused, passionate and frightened. The few bad reviews I red are due only to complete different concepts on filmaking: if you were born and bred in the PS2 / MTV world, than this will be boring as [heck]! Bo to the "old" people like me, it's a rare treat.

"He loved women, He loved men, ......He didn't care what the world though - HE WAS the world". THAT was part of the original wordage for the first run - with THAT magnificent poster of the eyes peering through the white gloved hand. Simple. effective. YET, I have never quite seen a complete version of the Visconti work - frustrating! It's a long, long trip through this crazy, complex monarch's life to the strange "suicide".

Known for building those rather magnificent, albeit eccentric palaces, he also "did as he pleased". Loved his Cousin Elizabeth, died alone under a cloud.......

Helmut Berger brings just enough torture to this being and is not afraid to age grostesquely for the part. Sadly missed Romy Schneider visits familiar territory [pre- "Bocaccio 70" she was well known for her Royal performances "Forever my Love" etc.]but brings new shades to this lady - more edge, more determination. Quite a monumental work - and directed with grand operatic scale by Visconti - what else? This was the Monarch, "manipulated" by Cosima Wagner [Liszt's daughter], totally under the spell of Richard Wagner's 'mythology'.

Productions values are excellent, great International Cast too - Gret Froebe [Goldfinger!]; Helmut Griem [Cabaret]; Silvana Mangano [Death In Venice]; Trevor Howard [White Mischief]. etc.

Well worth viewing, but where is the REAL complete version? Also badly in need of DVD restoration and completion!

[Footnote : Visconti gave Romy Schneider her big break in "Bocaccio 70" [2nd story "The Job"] - The Chanel suit episode. Whatever happened to this movie???]