Ludwig

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Ludwig

PG

Released Mar 8, 1973

4h 17m

Biography

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Popcornmeter

33%

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12 Reviews

89%

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1,000+ Ratings

Mad Ludwig II (Helmut Berger) of Bavaria likes Empress Elisabeth (Romy Schneider), composer Richard Wagner (Trevor Howard), young men and candy.

Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

This movie is about the king's obsession with a mock-heroic fairy-tale mode of life and has no style.

Sep 19, 2023

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Jonathan Romney

Film Comment Magazine

It can feel cumbersome, frustratingly disjointed, at times certainly a heavy watch. And yet this full-length Ludwig... feels today like a painting whose images and forms can be at least freshly recognized.

Jun 28, 2018

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Bilge Ebiri

Village Voice

Built mostly around medium close-ups and dark interiors, the film creates a sense of isolation that matches the lead character's own state of mind.

Jun 22, 2018

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Judith Crist

Texas Monthly

There is no apparent intelligence in the way all this has been stuck together, let alone the way in which mind-shriveling dialogue has been assigned various mouths.

Jun 12, 2020

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Diego Galán

El Pais (Spain)

Ludwig continues to be an admirable spectacle. [Full Review in Spanish]

Aug 22, 2019

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Robert Mazzocco

The New York Review of Books

An unconscious parody of Visconti's own embattled romanticism, a diatribe against "privileged liberty," an old morality play in which the free soul is the damned soul-a dyspeptic Visconti, as it were, lecturing himself.

Mar 22, 2018

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Wolfgang G

Ludwig II. ist ein historisches Drama von Regisseur Luchino Visconti, mit Helmut Berger als Ludwig. Luchino Visconti inszenierte die historische Geschichte des Ludwig II. überzeugend, poetisch und sehr einfühlsam. Der Film zählt auch heute, nach 50 Jahren, als Meisterwerk, eine Paraderolle für Helmut Berger und auch für Romy Schneider.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

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Audience Member

Ludwig built the castles that inspired Walt Disney. Visconti's aesthetic masterpiece.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

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Audience Member

good long exhaustive bio-pic

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

Grandiose it may seems, there is not much to take away apart from the authentic depiction of King Ludwig's tragic life.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Audience Member

An interesting story of a decadent mad king who was actually a liberace gay romantic romantic eccentric. Great acting and beautiful sets and costumes etc. But almost four hours is a bit too much and I was bored every now and then.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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Audience Member

Long, opulent, rather strange.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Luchino Visconti

Director

Helmut Berger

King Ludwig II of Bavaria

Romy Schneider

Empress Elisabeth of Austria

Trevor Howard

Richard Wagner

Silvana Mangano

Cosima von Bülow

Helmut Griem

King Ludwig II of Bavaria

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Synopsis

Mad Ludwig II (Helmut Berger) of Bavaria likes Empress Elisabeth (Romy Schneider), composer Richard Wagner (Trevor Howard), young men and candy.

Director: Luchino Visconti
Screenwriter: Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Enrico Medioli, Luchino Visconti
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Mega Film
Rating: PG
Genre: Biography
Original Language: Italian
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 8, 1973, Original
Release Date (DVD): Oct 14, 2008
Runtime: 4h 17m