Ludwig

Ludwig

Ludwig. He loved women. He loved men. He lived as controversially as he ruled. But he did not care what the world thought. He was the world.

R 1973 · 239 min · ★ 7.4 · Drama, History

Historical evocation of Ludwig, king of Bavaria, from his crowning in 1864 until his death in 1886, as a romantic hero. Fan of Richard Wagner, betrayed by him, in love with his cousin Elisabeth of Austria, abandoned by her, tormented by his homosexuality, he will little by little slip towards madness.

Directed by Luchino Visconti · Written by Enrico Medioli

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Cast

Helmut Berger Ludwig
Romy Schneider Elisabeth of Austria
Trevor Howard Richard Wagner
Silvana Mangano Cosima von Bülow
Gert Fröbe Father Hoffmann
Helmut Griem Dürckheim
Izabella Telezynska Queen Mother
Umberto Orsini Count von Holnstein
John Moulder-Brown Prince Otto
Sonia Petrovna Sophie
Folker Bohnet Joseph Kainz
Heinz Moog Professor von Gudden

Make it a double feature

6h together

Ludwig

Conversation Piece

Both from Luchino Visconti.

More from Luchino ViscontiSee all →

Ludwig

Historical evocation of Ludwig, king of Bavaria, from his crowning in 1864 until his death in 1886, as a romantic hero. Fan of Richard Wagner, betrayed by him, in love with his cousin Elisabeth of Austria, abandoned by her, tormented by his homosexuality, he will little by little slip towards madness.

Rocco and His Brothers

Rocco and His Brothers · 1960

Rocco and His Brothers

MovieDramaRomance

When a impoverished widow’s family moves to the big city, two of her five sons become romantic rivals with deadly results.

La Terra Trema

La Terra Trema · 1949

In rural Sicily, the fishermen live at the mercy of the greedy wholesalers. One family risks everything to buy their own boat and operate independently.

The Leopard

The Leopard · 1963

As Garibaldi's troops begin the unification of Italy in the 1860s, an aristocratic Sicilian family grudgingly adapts to the sweeping social changes undermining their way of life.

Bellissima

Bellissima · 1952

Film director Blasetti is looking for a little girl for his new movie. Along with other mothers, Maddelena takes her daughter to Cinecittà, hoping she’ll be selected and become a star. She is ready to sacrifice anything for little Maria.

Tokyo Olympiad

Tokyo Olympiad · 1965

MovieDocumentary

This impressionistic portrait of the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics pays as much attention to the crowds and workers as it does to the actual competitive events. Highlights include an epic pole-vaulting match between West Germany and America, and the final marathon race through Tokyo's streets. Two athletes are highlighted: Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila, who receives his second gold medal, and runner Ahamed Isa from Chad, representing a country younger than he is.

Obsession

Obsession · 1943

MovieCrimeDrama

Gino, a drifter, begins an affair with inn-owner Giovanna as they plan to get rid of her older husband.

White Nights

White Nights · 1957

MovieDramaRomance

A middle-aged man meets a young woman who is waiting on a canal bridge for her lover's return.

The Damned

The Damned · 1969

MovieDramaHistory

In the early days of Nazi Germany, a powerful noble family must adjust to life under the new dictatorship regime.

Conversation Piece

Conversation Piece · 1974

Conversation Piece

MovieDramaRomance

A retired professor of American origin lives a solitary life in a luxurious palazzo in Rome. He is confronted by a vulgar Italian marchesa and her lover, her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend, and forced to rent to them an apartment on the upper floor of his palazzo. From this point on his quiet routine is turned into chaos by his tenants' machinations, and everybody's life takes an unexpected but inevitable turn.

A Day in the Country

A Day in the Country · 1946

A Day in the Country

MovieDramaRomance

The family of a Parisian shop-owner spends a day in the country. The daughter falls in love with a man at the inn, where they spend the day.

Death in Venice

Death in Venice · 1971

Death in Venice

Composer Gustav von Aschenbach travels to Venice for health reasons. There, he becomes obsessed with the stunning beauty of an adolescent Polish boy named Tadzio who is staying with his family at the same Grand Hôtel des Bains on the Lido as Aschenbach.

Senso

MovieRomanceDrama

A troubled and neurotic Italian Countess betrays her entire country for a self-destructive love affair with an Austrian Lieutenant.

Sandra

MovieDramaMystery

Sandra returns to her hometown to take care of family business, but childhood memories and secrets soon overcome her.

Boccaccio '70

Boccaccio '70 · 1962

MovieComedyRomance

An anthology of four comic moral tales about the hypocrisies surrounding sex in 1960s Italy: frothy young love and office politics in the big city; milk advertisements that begin to haunt an aging prude; a trophy wife enduring her husband's very public affairs; a lucky ticket-holder at a small town fair.

The Innocent

The Innocent · 1976

MovieDramaRomance

Tullio Hermil is a chauvinist aristocrat who flaunts his mistress to his wife, but when he believes she has been unfaithful he becomes enamored of her again.

More Like This

Amelia

MovieAdventureDrama

A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.

The Lion King

The Lion King · 1994

MovieAnimationFamily

Young lion prince Simba, eager to one day become king of the Pride Lands, grows up under the watchful eye of his father Mufasa; all the while his villainous uncle Scar conspires to take the throne for himself. Amid betrayal and tragedy, Simba must confront his past and find his rightful place in the Circle of Life.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World · 2003

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

MovieAdventureDrama

After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship's thoughtful surgeon, his best friend.

Torch Song Trilogy

Torch Song Trilogy · 1988

Torch Song Trilogy

MovieComedyDrama

Arnold Beckoff is looking for love and acceptance, but as a gay man working as a female impersonator in 1970s New York City, neither come easily. After a series of heartaches, Arnold believes he has found the love of his life in Alan, and the couple make plans to adopt. But when tragedy strikes, Arnold's life is shaken to its very core, leading to a confrontation with his overbearing mother, who has never approved of her son's lifestyle.

Far North

Far North · 2008

MovieDramaThriller

In the arctic, as Saiva is being born, a shaman declares that she is evil and will bring harm to all who become involved with her. Saiva is cast out of her tribe of herders and grows up to live a nomadic existence with Anja, a young woman she adopts as an infant. Then Loki, an injured and starving soldier, stumbles into their isolated lives. The women nurse him back to health, but treachery, violence and doom await them all.

My Life as a Dog

My Life as a Dog · 1985

My Life as a Dog

MovieDramaComedy

A boy, obsessed with comparing himself with those less fortunate, experiences a different life at the home of his aunt and uncle in 1959 Sweden.

Il Divo

Il Divo · 2008

Italy, early '90s. Calm, clever and inscrutable, politician Giulio Andreotti has been synonymous with power for decades. He has survived everything: electoral battles, terrorist massacres, loss of friends, slanderous accusations; but now certain repentant mobsters implicate him in the crimes of Cosa Nostra.

The Banger Sisters

The Banger Sisters · 2002

The Banger Sisters

MovieComedyDrama

In the late '60s, the self-proclaimed belles of the rock 'n' roll ball, rocked the worlds of every music legend whose pants they could take off -- and they have the pictures to prove it. But it's been more than two decades since the Banger Sisters earned their nickname -- or even laid eyes on each other. Their reunion is the collision of two women's worlds; one who's living in the past, and one who's hiding from it. Together they learn to live in the moment.

Serpico

Serpico · 1973

MovieCrimeDrama

New York cop Frank Serpico blows the whistle on the rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.

Amen.

MovieDramaHistory

Kurt Gerstein—a member of the Institute for Hygiene of the Waffen-SS—is appalled to discover that a poison gas he helped discover is being used to kill Jews. Driven by his conscience to alert the rest of the world, Gerstein teams up with a young Jesuit priest, Riccardo Fontana, but their protestations fall on deaf ears in the Vatican.

Mary Reilly

Mary Reilly · 1996

MovieDramaHorror

A housemaid falls in love with Dr. Jekyll and his darkly mysterious counterpart, Mr. Hyde.

Beautiful Girls

Beautiful Girls · 1996

Beautiful Girls

MovieComedyDrama

During a snowy winter in the small fictional town of Knight's Ridge, Massachusetts, a group of lifelong buddies hang out, drink and struggle to connect with the women who affect their decisions, dreams and desires.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter