Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Ludwig Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 6, 2017

Many of Luchino Visconti’s films could probably be described as operatic (for better or worse), and that description is perhaps nowhere more apt than with his 1973 biographical opus of the so called “Mad King” of Bavaria, Ludwig II (portrayed by Helmut Berger in the film). For anyone who has visited the incredibly scenic Bavarian region, it’s virtually an inescapable rite of tourism to visit at least one of Ludwig’s incredible “fairy tale” castles, notably Neuschwanstein, which erupts from a Bavarian hillside like something out of a Walt Disney fever dream, which in itself is probably appropriate since the castle reportedly provided inspiration for Disney’s own Sleeping Beauty fortress. (Neuschwanstein has been featured in a number of films, including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.) While Ludwig’s often hyperbolic life would seem operatic at its core, Ludwig is operatic for another salient reason: Ludwig was a major patron of Richard Wagner (played by Trevor Howard in the film), and indeed many historians feel that this friendship aided Wagner, a kind of reprobate whose finances weren’t always exactly in order, in being able to complete some of his most legendary works. Visconti, an Italian director with something of a German obsession (as evidenced by such films as The Damned and Death in Venice), is known for his opulent, some might even say decadently opulent, productions but also for what some perceive as an almost lethargic pace, two elements which are on display in both versions of Ludwig offered on this new two Blu-ray set. Ludwig’s story is fascinating from any number of standpoints, including his struggles with his sexual identity, and while Visconti dabbles in psychological subtext, there’s a curiously distant feeling in this film, perhaps unavoidable given its emphasis on royalty, that may make any real human emotion fleeting.

Kind of interestingly in terms of presenting a character about to undergo some moral challenges who is in the midst of a confession as the film begins, Ludwig echoes the initial scene of another film I recently reviewed, Story of Sin. In this case Ludwig is in consultation with a priest, who urges him to remain humble despite his high station in life. That in turn leads Ludwig into “confessing” that he’s realized his royal status will allow him to foster great art, which in turn will reflect the majesty of his reign.

Almost instantly, though, Visconti starts hopping around the timeline while also introducing what are initially kind of confounding interstitial elements with various people delivering monologues about Ludwig aimed directly at the camera. It later becomes evident what this structural artifice is really all about, which boils down to what might be thought of as depositions as Ludwig’s mental stability becomes questioned. In the meantime, Ludwig’s unconsummated romantic entanglement with his cousin Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Romy Schneider, who kind of interestingly portrayed the same character in Sissi: The Trilogy years earlier) is detailed, something that will continue to inform the film despite the fact that he ultimately is betrothed to Elisabeth’s sister Sophie (Sonia Petrovna) and (just for good measure) obviously has an eye for men as well. Already the film is getting into (soap?) operatic material, and Visconti’s tendency to let scenes kind of drag on doesn’t always help infuse the material with a needed sense of urgency.

For music lovers, the film’s most compelling content is probably that related to Richard Wagner and his imperious wife Cosima von Bulow (Silvana Mangano). The early part of the film documents Ludwig’s obsession with the composer, this despite the fact that some of Ludwig’s more astute courtiers warn him about Wagner’s profligate ways (an ironic warning to be sure, given Ludwig’s own proclivities toward excess). But there are some rather interesting scenes in the film between both Wagner and Cosima as well as Ludwig and Wagner that, while hardly revelatory, have a bit more of a lived in feeling than some of the relatively static tableaux that are otherwise on display. Howard makes an unexpectedly convincing Wagner, both in terms of his physical deportment, but more importantly in his psychological take on the character, and it's his performance that may stick with some viewers longer than that of the putative "stars".

Ludwig had a somewhat troubled production history, including Visconti suffering a stroke during filming, which may account for the somewhat haphazard feel the film has at times. Things weren’t helped during the initial release when massive edits were ordered on both sides of the Atlantic, with various shortened versions being released. I’m frankly not all that sure that this “complete” version really helps matters, in terms of overall pacing, since the film seems almost willfully slow a lot of the time. (The fact that there’s an even longer “television version” included on this Blu-ray may strike some as a near Ludwig-ian example of excess.) The film is nonetheless quite ravishing, with a really impeccable production design (including Oscar nominated costumes by Piero Tosi). As might be expected, Wagner’s music plays an important part in the underscore, though it may strike musicologists as a little odd that some of Schumann’s music is also included. Schumann of course was mentor to Brahms, Wagner’s “nemesis” in the 19th century composing world.

Ludwig Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ludwig is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Academy with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information:

Ludwig was restored in 2K resolution from the original 35mm camera negative. The audio was restored from the optical negative. All restoration work was completed at Technicolor, Rome, under the supervision of Luigi Lupi, Movietime.

As noted above, this release contains the complete theatrical version as well as what is described as the "television version" (though I haven't been able to track down information on the history of this version, other than some IMDb listings for broadcasts in various countries). Screenshots 1-12 are from the theatrical version, and screenshots 13-19 are from the television version, and to my eyes there was no noticeable difference in either shared footage or the look of the different footage in terms of palette reproduction, general sharpness and clarity and grain structure.

This is by and large a stellar looking transfer, one which reproduces the often dark, burnished look of Armando Nannuzzi's cinematography. While there is certainly some gorgeous scenery on display, a lot of the film takes place in opulent interiors, and aside from some minor deficits in shadow detail in some dimly lit scenes, detail levels remain commendable and really superb in close-ups. The palette is generally nicely saturated, though there are just a couple of isolated scenes where things look slightly blanched, without the vividly deep tones that much of the rest of the presentation offers. The grain field is generally healthy and organic looking, but can occasionally tip over into some chunky yellowness, notably during the interstitial "interview" segments which are filmed against a dark blue background.

Ludwig Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ludwig is presented with either Italian or (mostly) English tracks in LPCM Mono. Arrow's booket kind of uncharacteristically has even more information about the soundtrack than the video presentation:

This release presents Ludwig with its English soundtrack for the first time on home video. The soundtrack was originally created for the 173 minute version which played commercially in the U.S. and, as such, portions of our full length presentation necessarily revert to the Italian soundtrack where no English dialogue existed.

Furthermore, the 173 minute English language version not only cut sections of the film but also reordered them and, on occasion, altered or added musical accompaniment. Viewers may notice some abrupt changes in the background music as a result. We could have excised these passages and made use of the Italian soundtrack during these moments, but decided it was best to present as much of the original English soundtrack as possible.

During the conform it also became apparent that some of the English language narration did not match up to the full length Italian version. We can only assume that these brief sections were rewritten to accommodate the cuts and reordering of the 173 version. As they do not fit Ludwig in its complete form, we have decided to present them separately, as bonus features.

There's really no major difference in the sound between the Italian and English versions, though at times it seemed there might be minimally more hiss present on the English version (we're talking incrementally small amounts, nothing to be concerned about). Whichever audio option is chosen, some actors are going to be dubbed, and so it's kind of a crapshoot in terms of whose lips you want to match with the selected audio. It seemed that many of the major performers (including Berger) spoke English during the shoot, and so while the English track isn't complete, at least for the marquee performers, that track tends to match up with lip movements perhaps a bit more consistently than the Italian version. While both tracks are unavoidably narrow sounding, there's nothing major to complain about, though some of the piano underscore can sound just a trifle bright and tinny at times. Dialogue comes through cleanly and clearly. As noted above in Arrow's disclaimer, there are some abrupt transitions in the English version which can be momentarily distracting.

Ludwig Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Helmut Berger: The Mad King (1080p; 16:05) is a 2016 interview with Helmut Berger, who has frankly not aged all that well and whose English can be a bit hard to understand at times (subtitles would have been helpful).


• Luchino Visconti (1080i; 1:00:35) is a very informative biographical documentary on the director by Carlo Lizzani.


• English Soundtrack Extracts

  English Soundtrack Extract #1 (1:28) fits in a scene contained between 1:18:53 and 1:26:50 according to an explanatory note.

  English Soundtrack Extract #2 (00:20) fits in a scene contained between 1:47:24 and 1:50:56 according to an explanatory note.

• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 3:49)

Disc Two

• Producing Ludwig (1080p; 14:21) is a 2016 interview with Dieter Geissler.


• Speaking with Suso Cecchi d'Amico (1080i; 48:12) is an older archival piece with the screenwriter.


• Silvana Mangano: The Scent of a Primrose (1080i; 31:12) is another archival piece about the actress.

As usual, Arrow has also supplied a nicely illustrated booklet with essays, interviews and production notes.

Ludwig Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I personally kind of like the often desultory way Visconti's films can tend to unfold, and that kind of tolerance is probably necessary to make it through the slog of Ludwig. One would think with such a sensationalistic subject Visconti might have gone for the degradation gusto the same way he did in The Damned, but this is often a curiously tamped down affair despite the obviously florid emotions that are on display. The film is quite ravishing from a purely visual standpoint, and lovers of music history may get a kick out of the interactions Ludwig has with Richard Wagner. Arrow has once again assembled a handsomely packaged release with some excellent supplementary material. With caveats noted for the film itself, this overall release comes Recommended.