Ludwig

The final segment of Visconti’s so-called German trilogy, alongside The Damned and Death in Venice, tells the story of Ludwig II Wittelsbach, the eccentric king of Bavaria (1864-1886). Played by Helmut Berger (privately Visconti’s partner), Ludwig is a man more concerned with patronage of the arts and philosophy than with the question of politics. In the four-hour film, Visconti portrays the increasing disillusionment of the Bavarian ruler, called by Paul Verlaine “the last true king”. Consisting of loosely linked sequences, the expressive, baroque, and visually stunning Ludwig seems emblematic of Visconti’s style, and the culmination of themes that appear in his work.

Robert Birkholc

Restored in 4K in 2022 by StudioCanal, La Cinémathèque française and Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with Compass Film and Ohonte Films, with funding provided by Chanel and CNC – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée at L’Image Retrouvée laboratory, from the original camera negative.