Ludwig

A handsome and stylish film, this biography of the Bavarian "mad king" is ultimately hollow and historically inaccurate. Berger plays the title role in a distanced manner that never expresses him to the audience. A good deal of time is spent showing his patronage of the famed composer Wagner, played by Howard, in what is probably the film's best performance. His love life is also explored in his platonic affair with Austrian princess Schneider, as well as his seduction of young men. Berger gradually becomes quite insane and ends up dead from mysterious causes. The production is marvelously directed, with Ludwig's actual castles for sets. Color and costume (which ea...