Ludwig

Ludwig
by Luchino Visconti
Italy · 1973 · Drama, History, Biography · 3h59 · Restored digital copy/Uncut version

The film follows the story of Ludwig II (Helmut Berger, with a striking resemblance to the king) from the age of 18, when he ascended to the throne, until his death. His infatuation with his cousin Sissi of Austria (a magnificent Romy Schneider), his passion for art and beauty, poetry and music, his dreams and his weaknesses. Four hours of pure pleasure and sensuality, which Olivier Assayas described as follows: “Visconti’s Ludwig immediately belongs to the category of films that are greater than cinema, more daring than their time, and whose very existence is a challenge to the prosaic nature of everyday life and to the materialism of the century.”

with Helmut Berger, Silvana Mangano, Romy Schneider, Trevor Howard