Ludwig

Ludwig (1973) is Luchino Visconti's nearly four-hour historical portrait of Bavaria's King Ludwig II, available to watch online on iFILM. Helmut Berger plays the king across two decades — from the coronation of 1864 to the mysterious death at Lake Starnberg in 1886. Visconti's reading is quiet but firm: Ludwig wasn't mad, he was simply born into the wrong century.

He bankrolls Richard Wagner's operas, retreats to the Alps to raise castles, and slips away from constitutional rule and ceremonial court life. His cousin, Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Romy Schneider, who had first played Sissi eighteen years earlier), is the one person who recognizes his isolation for what it is. The advisors grow impatient. The isolation deepens slowly, scene by scene, year by year.

Shot across Germany, Austria and Italy, with Trevor Howard as Wagner and Silvana Mangano in the cast, the film circulated for years in a truncated cut before Visconti's full version was restored. Every frame is composed like a painting. It rewards patience, and it pays back generously. Stream Ludwig (1973) online on iFILM.