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A string of masterpieces behind him - including Ossessione, Senso, The Leopard and Death in Venice - the great Italian director Luchino Visconti turned his attentions to the life and death of King Ludwig II of Bavaria in 1972, resulting in an epic of 19th century decadence. Dominated by Helmut Berger (The Damned, The Bloodstained Butterfly) in the title role, Ludwig nevertheless manages to find room for an impressive cast list: Romy Schneider (reprising her Elisabeth of Austria characterization from the Sissi trilogy), Silvana Mangano (Bitter Rice), Gert Fröbe (Goldfinger), John Moulder-Brown (Deep End) and Trevor Howard (Brief Encounter) as Richard Wagner. As opulent as any of Visconti's epics - Piero Tosi's costume design was nominated for an Academy Award - Ludwig is presented here in its complete form in accordance with the director's wishes.

Media

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Bonus Materials

• 2K restoration from the original film negative
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Two viewing options: the full-length theatrical cut or as five individual parts
• Original Italian soundtrack with optional English subtitles
• Original English soundtrack with optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Interview with actor Helmut Berger
• Interview with producer Dieter Geissler
• Luchino Visconti, an hour-long documentary portrait of the director by Carlo Lizzani (Wake Up and Kill, Requiescant) containing interviews with Burt Lancaster, Vittorio Gassman, Francesco Rosi, Claudia Cardinale and others
• Speaking with Suso Cecchi d’Amico, an interview with the screenwriter
• Silvana Mangano: The Scent of a Primrose, a half-hour portrait of the actress
• Theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring two choices of original poster artwork

Sales Points

• Restored to Visconti’s original, nearly four-hour cut
• Features Franco Mannino's masterful performance of Wagner's previously unpublished 'Elegie in A Flat Major,' the composer's final work for piano

Press Quotes

Grand and melancholy

     —Richard Brody, The New Yorker

This is Visconti's coolest, most ruminative film... and it feels different every time I see this beautiful, hypnotic movie

     —Bilge Ebiri, The Village Voice

This full-length Ludwig, originally shown in Venice in 1980, feels today like a painting whose images and forms can be freshly recognized.

     —Jonathan Romney, Film Comment

[Trevor Howard] is a profoundly interesting combination of self-absorption, craftiness, genius and vision.

     —Vincent Canby, The New York Times

Visconti was at one time considered one of the world's leading directors; he likes shadows, decadent luxury, madness, handsome young men, over decorated sets and Wagner

     —Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun-Times

Your eyes can feast upon sights and scenes of mid-nineteenth-century Bavaria and the luscious interiors and exteriors of those crazy castles

     —Judith Crist, New York Magazine