Rent Ludwig (1972)

3.6 of 5 from 82 ratings
3h 48min
Rent Ludwig (aka Ludwig: The Mad King of Bavaria) Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
Director Luchino Visconti brings all of his famed majestic style to bear on this lavish and operative portrait of Ludwig II (Helmut Berger), the nineteenth-century 'mad king' of Bavaria, whose obsession with Wagner's music inspired him to build fairytale castles and finally lose his already-fragile grip on his sanity.
Actors:
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Bert Bloch, Manfred Fürst
Directors:
Producers:
Ugo Santalucia, Dieter Geissler
Writers:
Luchino Visconti, Enrico Medioli, Suso Cecchi D'Amico
Others:
Piero Tosi
Aka:
Ludwig: The Mad King of Bavaria
Studio:
Infinity
Genres:
Classics, Drama
Collections:
A Brief History of Coronations on Screen, All the Twos: 1972-2012, A Brief History of Film..., Top 10 Barnyard Bird Films, Top 10 Films of 1972, Top Films
BBFC:
Release Date:
16/09/2006
Run Time:
228 minutes
Languages:
Italian LPCM Mono
Subtitles:
English
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 2.35:1
Colour:
Colour
Bonus:
  • Luchino Visconti by Carlo Lizzani
  • Italian Portraits: Suso Cecchi d’Amico
  • The scent of Primroses Silvano Magano
BBFC:
Release Date:
27/03/2017
Run Time:
257 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 1.0, Italian Dolby Digital 1.0
Subtitles:
English, English Hard of Hearing
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 2.39:1
Colour:
Colour
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • Two viewing options: the full-length theatrical cut or as five individual parts
  • Brand-new interview with actor Helmut Berger
  • Luchino Visconti, an hour-long documentary portrait of the director by Carlo Lizzani (Wake Up and Kill, Requiescant) containing interviews with Burt Lancaster, Vittorio Gassman, Francesco Rosi, Claudia Cardinale and others
  • Speaking with Suso Cecchi d'Amico, an interview with the screenwriter
  • Silvana Mangano: The Scent Of A Primrose, a half-hour portrait of the actress
  • Theatrical Trailer

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Reviews (3) of Ludwig

Epic - Ludwig review by Pete W

Spoiler Alert
20/09/2013

Of epic length at nearly 4 hours, this film feels that it needs a good edit to get an hour at least off the running time. Taking its lead from one of main characters - Wagner - it fails to sustain the viewers interest throughout. Which is a shame because it is an interesting historical story with a good performances from a number of actors - Helmut Berger has to carry the film. But it is obvious that the actors are all speaking different languages which have then been dubbed into Italian. Visconti also skirts round the sexual confusion which afflicts Ludwig.

2 out of 3 members found this review helpful.

The long goodbye - Ludwig review by LR

Spoiler Alert
16/03/2021

Visconti's film about Ludwig, the mad King of Bavaria, has many interesting episodes within it, for example, the story of Ludwig's excessive admiration for Wagner and his music, admiration which inspired him to fund Wagner recklessly, to the extent that the Government of Bavaria became alarmed. Visconti uses a lot of Wagner's music on the soundtrack, which is entirely appropriate, given the heroic dimension to Ludwig's life and the operatic melodrama of its highlights. The reconstruction of the period is well done, as one would expect after The Leopard.

So it is a shame that the film is quite tedious in places. Visconti takes four hours to tell the story and there is nothing to justify that length. I felt that David Lean could have achieved the same positive effects much more economically. Part of the problem seems to be that Visconti is not sure what point he is trying to make - something about class, inequality, aesthetic elitism, sexual repression, aristocratic integrity versus bourgeois penny-pinching, etc. The lack of thematic focus results in a flabbiness of narrative. Not a magnificent failure, nor a flawed masterpiece. Just a potentially interesting story badly told.

1 out of 2 members found this review helpful.

epic - Ludwig review by sb

Spoiler Alert
07/12/2022

Yeh - slow but convincing - follows the life of the tormented Ludwig 2 of Bavaria..

Lovely sets and costume and acting is superb

watch and see.. 

0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.

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