DVD : Ludwig

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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Koch International
EAN: 0741952308799
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: KOCH Lorber Films
Manufacturer: KOCH Lorber Films
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: KOCH Lorber Films
Region Code: 1
Release Date: October 14, 2008
Running Time: 238 minutes
Sales Rank: 16036
Studio: KOCH Lorber Films
Theatrical Release Date: 1973

Editorial Review:

Description:
Luchino Visconti's Complete Four Hour Masterpiece Digitally Restored and Re-Mastered!

Director Luchino Visconti (The Leopard, Death in Venice) brings his famed majestic style to this lavish and operatic portrait of Ludwig II (Helmut Berger), the 19th century `mad king' of Bavaria. Tormented by his unrequited love for his cousin, Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Romy Schneider), coupled with his obsession with the music of Wagner (Trevor Howard), Ludwig retreats into a fantasy world - building fairytale castles and ultimately losing his already-fragile grip on his sanity.

Featuring Over 2 Hours of Bonus Features:
Luchino Visconti "Life as in a Romance" Documentary
Silvana Mangano "The Scent of Primroses" Documentary
Piero Tosi Interview with Carlo Lizzani

Amazon.com:
Modern movies are short on elegance, but Luchino Visconti's Ludwig has elegance to burn. It's not only the sumptuous and scrupulously realized depiction of 19th century royal ceremony and trappings, which gleam with old world glamor; it's also Visconti's long, fluid scenes and the subtle play of emotions in the faces of beautiful Helmut Berger (as Bavaria's King Ludwig II) and even more beautiful Romy Schneider (as his cousin Elisabeth, Empress of Austria). From his coronation to when he was deposed due to mental illness, Ludwig was a sad, eccentric figure, obsessed with the mythic operas of Wagner (played by Trevor Howard, Brief Encounter) and building fantastic (and woefully expensive) castles. Ludwig follows the monarch's slow collapse with compassion and nuance. The movie is full of odd, languid scenes, such as when Ludwig, lying in bed, has a visiting actor deliver a romantic speech over and over--Berger's haunted face and the buzz of servants constantly tending to his whims make this sequence both comic and unsettling. Many will find this four-hour-long movie hopelessly slow, but Visconti's portrayal of the strange, arid life of royalty--indulged and lavish, yet deprived of meaning--has a hypnotic power. The dvd includes an excellent documentary about Visconti (who also directed The Leopard and White Nights) and another about actress Silvana Mangano (who also appeared in Visconti's Death in Venice). --Bret Fetzer

Average Rating:

Rating: - Visconti's magnificent epic, as good as The Leopard, lovingly restored....
Hooray! Koch Lorber has decided to restore this magnificent, terribly underrated and misunderstood masterpiece by Luchino Visconti, one of my favorite Italian filmmakers. This is the full length, four hour version. When it was released here in the states initially, it was cut almost in half to two measly hours, which destroyed Visconti's stately pace and vision. Even the VHS copy (which ran about 10 minutes shorter than this copy) was in the wrong aspect ratio (it was 1.85:1), and it cropped ... Read More

Rating: - English version of Ludwig
I saw LUDWIG with English Dialog in the 1973 MGM domestic release.
The NYC premiere was reported to be in English. Has anyone noticed that the lip movement is in English....Has a lip-reading expert seen this film, and is still convinced the original "shooting language" was Italian ?
Where is the English track for this release ?

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Rating: - Visconti's lesser known major opus
I'm so glad this film finally has been re-released in the American market.
The scope, cinematography, and character development is excellent. The gradual deterioation and dethronement of Ludwig is very well represented.
The question as to whether Ludwig is a genius or a madman- or a combination of both- is handled sensitively and intelligently. The portrayl of his enduring love of his cousin (Romy Schneider in one of her finest and most controversial roles) is excellent, as is the portrayl ... Read More

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Rating: - This is the complete theatrical cut, it's NOT a cut version, people!
The two comments about this being a cut version are misleading. This is the complete theatrical version as released at 238 minutes. There WERE various cut versions that the producers released without the director's approval, but this is not one of them. It's the version Visconti sanctioned to be released at the time. To speak of the only version worthy of release as being a 6 hour version is certainly a bit extreme. Would you refer to the approved theatrical release of Bergman's Fanny and Alexander ... Read More

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Rating: - ludwig
After having ordered much from Amazon in the past few months, and with a great deal of satisfaction for the quality of product and speed of delivery,I must express great disappointment with the movie Ludwig. After havng seen the original years ago and being led to beleive that this new realese was a restored version, I would not recommend the movie and advise Amazon to mention that it is a seriously cut version of the original Visconti masterpiece which I have awaited with great anticipation. Why short change ... Read More