You could tell that Director Viconti and the rest of the crew really cared about this movie and worked very hard. This would account for the beautifully re-created scenes from the life of King Luwig II of Bavaria,...and it would account for the movie lasting almost 4 hours!! I actually LIKE movies that are 3-4 hours long--provided the subject matter is compelling. For example, in Ben Hur, there is so much action and so much plot that 3 hours plus is indeed warranted. BUT, with LUDWIG, it seems like there is just too much padding and dry scenes that could have either been excised or shortened. For example, the first scene where we see Ludwig is when he is about to be crowned. Instead of simply showing the crowning, we see the members of the delegation slowly enter the room and we see them wait for Ludwig while he gets dressed. Was this really necessary? Plus, although too much of the bland is included, there is a major omission that seems inexplicable. Ludwig was a homosexual and had a long series of sexual encounters (followed by internal contrition and self-loathing). But none of this was directly dealt with--only very mildly implied. In fact, although we know he was gay, the movie instead implied that he was sexually attracted to his über-famous cousin, Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary (a VERY strange woman in real life who appears very normal in this movie). My assumption is that because the film was made in 1972, they were afraid to broach the issue of homosexuality, but considering the emotional toll it took on Ludwig, it seems dishonest to ignore it.
Review of Ludwig
