Ludwig | 
| Director: Luchino Visconti
Actors: Helmut Berger, Romy Schneider, Trevor Howard, Silvana Mangano, Gert Froebe
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
List Price: $24.98
Buy New: $18.79
You Save: $6.19 (25%)
New (4) Used (9) Collectible (1) from $18.79
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 16524
Format: Color, Letterboxed, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: French (Original Language), German (Original Language), Italian (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 231 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 157252250X
UPC: 720917013541
EAN: 9781572522503
ASIN: 157252250X
Theatrical Release Date: March 8, 1973
Release Date: October 3, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New factory sealed Video * * We carefully inspected this * Great customer service * Satisfaction Guaranteed!
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Description
The meticulously reconstructed story of the last King of Bavaria who was crowned in 1864 at the age of twenty.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 My Favorite Visconti Film! December 22, 2000
Alex Udvary (chicago, il United States)
36 out of 40 found this review helpful
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!
An outstanding movie for aestethicians September 14, 1999
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
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 was originally in English September 21, 2000
Mangham David Lehr (Columbia, MO USA)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
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
Extraordinary film May 9, 2000
Dolores Neese (San Francisco)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
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?
Hauntingly beautiful, a masterpiece! December 9, 1999
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
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.
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