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Superman Store - Ludwig
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List Price: $39.98
Our Price: $22.26
Your Save: $ 17.72 ( 44% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: KOCH Lorber Films
Starring: Romy Schneider, Silvana Mangano, Helmut Berger, Trevor Howard, John Moulder-Brown
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Koch International
EAN: 0741952308799
Format: Color
Label: KOCH Lorber Films
Manufacturer: KOCH Lorber Films
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: KOCH Lorber Films
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-10-14
Running Time: 238
Studio: KOCH Lorber Films
Theatrical Release Date: 1973
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Visconti's magnificent epic, as good as The Leopard, lovingly restored....
Comment: Hooray! Koch Lorber has decided to restore this magnificent, terribly underrated and misunderstood masterpiece by Luchino Visconti, one of my favorite Italian filmmakers. This is the full length, four hour version. When it was released here in the states initially, it was cut almost in half to two measly hours, which destroyed Visconti's stately pace and vision. Even the VHS copy (which ran about 10 minutes shorter than this copy) was in the wrong aspect ratio (it was 1.85:1), and it cropped Visconti's excellent framing. This DVD is in the proper ratio (2.35:1), it's at the proper length (there is no six hour version as some have said on this thread), and the transfer looks magnificent.
This is a sad, poetic, elegaic film that has scenes which are often startling in their poetry and beauty. Despite Ludwig's sheltered and indulgent life, he is vastly unhappy, indulging in fantasies and building extraordinary castles (many of which still remain in Bavaria). Visconti portrays him with sympathy and empathy, and has made one of his greatest films. Helmut Berger is excellent as Ludwig (Visconti had great taste in actors as well as lovers), Romy Schiender is wonderful as Ludwig's cousin (whom Ludwig loves), and Trevor Howard is great as Richard Wagner. It has some of the most exquisite, painterly cinemtography in any Visconti films. You really owe it to yourself to see this great film, whose reputation should soar after people see this DVD.
The DVD has a few documentaries, including one called Luchino Visconti: Life as in a Romance. It's a rehash of a documentary that appeared on its own DVD called Luchino Visconti: A Portrait. It's a poorly made, very short documentary, and doesn't even get close to the brilliance of Visconti or any of his works. It's an extraordinarily superficial work. The other documentaries are slighly more interesting, though I've seen better special features on DVD. Regardless of the disappointing special features, the film Ludwig is worth watching and owning. It's one of Visconti's most extraordinary films, arguably his last masterpiece.
Customer Rating:
Summary: English version of Ludwig
Comment: I saw LUDWIG with English Dialog in the 1973 MGM domestic release.
The NYC premiere was reported to be in English. Has anyone noticed that the lip movement is in English....Has a lip-reading expert seen this film, and is still convinced the original "shooting language" was Italian ?
Where is the English track for this release ?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Visconti's lesser known major opus
Comment: I'm so glad this film finally has been re-released in the American market.
The scope, cinematography, and character development is excellent. The gradual deterioation and dethronement of Ludwig is very well represented.
The question as to whether Ludwig is a genius or a madman- or a combination of both- is handled sensitively and intelligently. The portrayl of his enduring love of his cousin (Romy Schneider in one of her finest and most controversial roles) is excellent, as is the portrayl
of the wily genius, Richard Wagner (played masterfully by the veteran British actor Leslie Howard: more than 35 years after playing a major role in the Humphrey Bogart/Bette Davis Classic "Petrified Forest.)" Ludwig, played adroitly by Helmet Berger. is victimized by a lack of royal mentoring and the very common inbreeding that often afflicted European royalty. All in all, the historical representation is enlightening as exemplified by the backdrop of Bismark's consolidation of the disparate German kingdoms into modern Germany in 1870. I was ALSO impressed by the representations of Ludwigs castle without rooms, and his underground grotto with swan boots in a spring. The film gets pretty bizarre at times, and the ending in particularly puzzling and strangely justified.
I've seen this four times and each time I find something new and interesting. On the other hand, the film is long with subtitles which may turn off much of the American audience. I feel this movie is most like another Visconti masterpiece "The Leopard." which also depicts the
demise of the preeminence of European monarchies in the ninteenth century. Also the obsessive homoerotic element is remiscent of Visconti's
adaptation of Thomas Mann's "Death in Venice. For someone who loves first rate European "art films;" Ludwig is a real boon!
Customer Rating:
Summary: This is the complete theatrical cut, it's NOT a cut version, people!
Comment: The two comments about this being a cut version are misleading. This is the complete theatrical version as released at 238 minutes. There WERE various cut versions that the producers released without the director's approval, but this is not one of them. It's the version Visconti sanctioned to be released at the time. To speak of the only version worthy of release as being a 6 hour version is certainly a bit extreme. Would you refer to the approved theatrical release of Bergman's Fanny and Alexander as cut?
Customer Rating:
Summary: ludwig
Comment: After having ordered much from Amazon in the past few months, and with a great deal of satisfaction for the quality of product and speed of delivery,I must express great disappointment with the movie Ludwig. After havng seen the original years ago and being led to beleive that this new realese was a restored version, I would not recommend the movie and advise Amazon to mention that it is a seriously cut version of the original Visconti masterpiece which I have awaited with great anticipation. Why short change yourselves and us with such an inferior, chopped-up productiion of a truly great work of cinema art????????????????????????
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Editorial Reviews:
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Luchino Visconti's Complete Four Hour Masterpiece Digitally Restored and Re-Mastered! Director Luchino Visconti (The Leopard, Death in Venice) brings his famed majestic style to this lavish and operatic portrait of Ludwig II (Helmut Berger), the 19th century `mad king' of Bavaria. Tormented by his unrequited love for his cousin, Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Romy Schneider), coupled with his obsession with the music of Wagner (Trevor Howard), Ludwig retreats into a fantasy world - building fairytale castles and ultimately losing his already-fragile grip on his sanity. Featuring Over 2 Hours of Bonus Features:
Luchino Visconti "Life as in a Romance" Documentary
Silvana Mangano "The Scent of Primroses" Documentary
Piero Tosi Interview with Carlo Lizzani
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