Ludwig II

This movie is portraying Ludwig as a weak and disabled good for nothing king. What they forget to point out in this movie is that Ludwig was one of the greatest artists that ever lived. Together with his friend, idol and partner Richard Wagner he created the greatest and most beautiful monument to European culture in history. In his short life Ludwig created more out of pure passion then most people ever will. If you want to be introduced to king Ludwig: do not watch this movie because it is completely failing to portray him. Instead go for the perfect ''Ludwig II'' by Visconti, The tv series ''Wagner'' starring Richard Burton or ''Ludwig II Glanz und Ende eines Königs'' by Helmut Käutner.

This movie projects King Ludwig 2 in very bad and mostly wrong way. I was very dissapointed by the storyline.

The eccentric and naive personality of Ludwig II and the conflicts caused by his royal duties is reflected in the first part of the movie. The second part that is about the seclusive life he led seems to be based on the reports prepared to prove he is insane in order to abdicate him. As the diaries of Ludwig II were damaged during World War II, we don't know much about the real experiences he had in his seclusion. But his naive and sensitive personality does not match some of the behaviours depicted.

I'm not sure why this has such a low rating while Visconti's sluggish, badly dubbed movie is considered a masterpiece. All the acting is fine; the relationship between the king and his handsome equerry Hornig is sensitively and sympathetically handled; there's plenty of Wagner on the soundtrack and, as you would expect, plenty of smashing shots of castles.

This movie is amazing and I'm shocked that it only has a 5.9 on IMDb. Everyone I know who has seen this movie (mostly German friends... I'm American) including myself love this movie. It's a long film but I really enjoyed it and you can't exactly tell the story of a King's life in 90 minutes. All of the cast were excellent actors and really had you believing they were the characters they were portraying. The costumes were great and not overdone or cheesy like a lot of historical films make the mistake of doing. As for the story itself: I'm from the USA and raised in public schools all my life so it shouldn't be any surprise that I was never taught about Ludwig II. In fact, this film is the only reason I know his name. After watching the film I actually did some research on Ludwig and realized pretty much everything from the film was based on actual events and solid facts of Ludwig's life... a refreshing change from the typical more-fiction-than-fact "historical dramas" released in my country. I wish I could buy the film on DVD and hopefully someday that will be an option.