christopher-underwood Being one of a minority who does not like Death in Venice, it was not a complete surprise that I should similarly not particularly enjoy this. What does surprise me is that considering the length (I watched the full 4hr non TV version) so little of consequence happens. So many pretty and colourful uniforms, dresses and rooms put to so little use. Ken Russell would have had a field day and I assume Visconti kept things purposefully restrained but with less than half a dozen memorable moments the length does inevitably become something of a strain. Interesting cast it has to be said but, for me, it is Romy Shneider that truly shine, truly seems to have some idea of what she is doing and actually seems to be enjoying herself, even if she played the part as a favour to the director. Dull and uneventful - how is it possible to say that about a film on the life of such a person?

ironhorse_iv Being the final part of Italian director, Luchino Visconti's German Trilogy which also including 1969's "The Damned" and 1971's "Death in Venice". This film about the life and death of King Ludwig II (Helmut Berger) of Bavaria was very disappointing. Honestly, I came out from watching the movie, knowing the same things about the man, when coming in. This movie doesn't seem to want to show, anything new about the guy. Nor does it seems, to wants to analyze the real-life character at all. Its skips and gloss over a lot of the most information parts of his life, such as his childhood's relationship with his father, Maximilian II, his brother, Prince Otto (John Moulder Brown) and Prince Paul. Not only that, but the movie doesn't show why, he was so obsess with composer, Richard Wagner (Trevor Howard) and medieval German folk tales. It would be nice, to hear more about Castle Hohenschwangau's history, or see more of the Gothic Revival style with many frescoes of those heroic fantasy sagas like Tristan and Isolde. Maybe, play more of Wagner's music in the background, rather than walking around the castle in dead silence. I would love the movie to show how, he was able to have a close friendship with the composer, only to over-stalk and praise him, until his lost; but the movie doesn't do that. It rarely focus on them at all. So, you never get to see the true emotional depth of Ludwig's relationship with him. Another thing, that really bug me, about the film, is how they don't show, much of the Austro-Prussian War. For a war that was a big deal of Bavaria's history, you would think, they would show some battle scenes. Sadly, they do not. Instead, they focus on the King hearing bad news from the front lines. You really can't tell, how important, these battles were, by being in the sidelines. One thing, the movie focus, way too much of, is the relationship, he had with Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Romy Schneider). While, it's nice to see Romy Schneider reprises her role as the Empress Elisabeth from 1955's "Sissi" and its two sequels. In truth, the real-life Elisabeth rarely was able to hang out with Ludwig, due to her duties and standings in her own country. I get that, the movie wants to establish that he loves Elisabeth more than Duchess Sophie Charlotte (Sonia Petrovna), but gees, that far from accuracy. Ludwig did love Sophie, and both were very entertained with each other. They were known to often make jokes with each other, make poetic and had a deep interest in the arts, but we rarely see that. Instead, we get tiresome no chemistry shots of them, walking around the castle rooms, or going horseback riding in the pitch dark. It sucks, because these parts takes most of bulk of the first 2 hours of the film. If they did show some chemistry, maybe these scenes would be so boring. If anything, save this movie from being a total drag. It would be the second half of the film. It's here, where the movie gets good, because it kinda show the signs of his so call madness. I love all the scenes with Ludwig and his protégé Joseph Kainz (Folker Bohnet), because it shows how the king declines further in decay and resignation. Even if, the events depict here, are somewhat grotesquely-staged and almost out of sync incorrect, emphasizing that Ludwig's indeed seem confusion and mentally ill. While it's clear that he's peculiar and irresponsible, in truth, the question of his clinical insanity remains unresolved, even today. Another unresolved issue is the mystery of his own death. While, I like the film love to show the conflict with his people, it wasn't as dramatic as it shown in the film. In real-life, Ludwig barely displayed any violent tendencies; and, although he had mentioned suicide, he wasn't that suicidal. So, I don't know, where the film is getting that, from. In real-life, nobody knows, if he was murder or suicide, but the movie acts like he did commit suicide, when clearly, there is no prove of that. However, it's pretty clear, by historians, that the majority of people around him, also knew that he was a closet homosexual. Because of this, I think, this is where the movie fail to exploited. For a film, about a notorious homosexual. The movie doesn't explore Ludwig's sexuality, enough. You would think, that the movie would show more of his relationship with the same-sex. Instead, Visconti's film became a romantic tragic primarily intended to arouse heterosexuals than homosexual, because how much, they focus on his lost on the relationship with women, rather than with the men in his life. Because of this, it made love story relationship, seem so bland and generic. Rather than engaging for both sexes. Despite that, I do like how the filmmakers were able to film at, his real-life castle locations. It made the film, seem so authentic. I have to give director Visconti, props for that, and also doing all the filmmaking, even after suffering a stroke. I just wish the movie would be shorter. There was no need for this European cut film to be, nearly 4 hours long. Even the English version is a hard watch, with 3 hrs. It was so bloated and badly paced. Just way too much padding and dry scenes that could have either been excised or shortened. Nevertheless, the movie's greatest pro is the acting. Everybody did alright, however, Berger appearance as Ludwig stands out. He was amazing. He was perfect for the part. Overall: While, this movie isn't as bad, as directors Marie Noelle & Peter Sehr 2012's film, 'Ludwig II" or "1972's Ludwig: Requiem for a Virgin King". It's extremely boring running time, ruin what could had been a good epic film. Can't recommended.

vitaleralphlouis Based only on the first half of this film (divided into 2 DVD's) I'd rate the film 9 out of 10. The film brings into focus how Ludwig falls forever in love with Sissi, the Queen of Austria; a girl clearly out of his reach but who ties him into knots with her beauty and personality. Romy Schneider returns from the 3 Sissi movies agreeing to play the part only if she could play it with honesty, including all her disillusion with her marriage as well as being queen. Ludwig realizes Sissi has caught on to his flaws, that he's a very insecure man who clings to better people to create an aura of stature. His ill-fated solution is to propose marriage to Sissi's sister, Sophie; if you can't get the one you love then grab up her sister. Truly heartbreaking, even for royalty and all their power.All this is destroyed in Part Two wherein Visconti fabricates a homosexual theme, putting it into graphic terms. In 1972, this was supposed to be daring and brave filmmaking. This theme negates the unrequited love theme we've just spend two hours on. The important thing is that history does not show any hard evidence of Ludwig being homosexual. Because he was lonely from the loss of his true love, and backed away from marrying the sister, he's given a bum rap; here sensationalized by a cinema hack.

alexx668 In this last part of his German trilogy, Visconti delves the most into the human psyche, and in particular it's contradictory forces within. On one hand the self-destructive urge for physical pleasure, on the other the spiritual search for the sublime. The Dionysean and the Apollonian. Body and soul.Ludwig II, aka the "mad" king of Bavaria, is dragged to the limits by these two opposite forces. Losing focus on a vulgar reality, he surrenders to sexual perversion and yet also to a search for artistic purity, eventually leading him to madness, and finally to death. Trying in vein to find the sublime and eternal kingdom of the literary heroes he craves for, his behavior becomes more and more erratic until he is violently dethroned (a recurring theme in Visconti's work: the fall of aristocracy and the rise of bourgeois democracy).Visconti directs this paradox with a highly elegant style, influenced by the romanticism of painters like Caspar David Friedrich and Frederic Edwin Church. The movie reaches a climax at around the third hour, when Ludwig and his protégé Joseph Kainz travel together through the endless frozen night, so that Ludwig shows Kainz his "real kingdom, the mountains under the moonlight, a world for ourselves, pure and uncontaminated". "Think about your soul, not about your body" Ludwig tells him. This a last hurrah. After Kainz's rejection, Ludwig declines further in decay and resignation.The events depicting the conspiracy that dethrones him are grotesquely-staged and almost out of sync, emphasizing Ludwig's confusion and ill mental-state. Knowing his downfall is near, he confesses to one of the staff how he believes in the immortality of the soul and God's justice. "I've read many things about materialism", he says, "but it will never satisfy a man, cause he doesn't want to be put in the same level as beasts". That's a rare confession for Visconti.After he is captured, the film once again alters in style, to a kind of austere chamber-cinema with a funereal feel. Near the end (and his death), Ludwig says to psychiatrist professor Gudden: "There is nothing more beautiful and fascinating than the night. They say the cult of the night, of the moon, is a maternal cult. The cult of sun, of daytime, is a masculine myth, therefore paternal. However the mystery, the greatness of night, for me lie in the infinite sublime kingdom of the heroes, which is also the kingdom of reason. Poor Dr. Gudden, you are forced to study me from dawn to dusk and from dusk to dawn. But I am an enigma, and I want to be an enigma forever, for the world and for myself".Just like man. Sublime.