Ludwig II (1955)
Ludwig II. , Also known as Ludwig II. - Shine and End of a King (premiere title) and Ludwig II. - Shine and Misery of a King , is a German period film from 1955 by director Helmut Käutner . The plot is based on a story by Kadidja Wedekind and has the life of King Ludwig II of Bavaria as its theme. OW Fischer is cast in the title role, Ruth Leuwerik as Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Marianne Koch as Princess Sophie, Sisi's sister.
The premiere of the film took place on January 14, 1955 in the Rathaus-Lichtspiele at Sendlinger Tor in Munich and on January 28, 1955 in West Berlin. The film was first broadcast on television on September 10, 1965 by ZDF .
action
After the funeral procession with King Ludwig II of Bavaria has passed, flashbacks are made to the life of the monarch. Shortly after ascending to the throne, King Ludwig realized that he would not be able to realize his idealistic political ambitions. Badly hit and disappointed, he turns away from government business and devotes himself to his real hobby, art. For his planned kingdom of the muses, he brings the composer Richard Wagner to Munich. The royal sponsorship is generous, but Wagner makes full use of it. The musician is dismissed at the insistence of the cabinet. Ludwig delves into the planning and furnishing of fairytale castles such as Linderhof , Neuschwanstein and Herrenchiemsee . He is not interested in the accusation of excess.
When the king refused to receive the German crown prince because his sick brother, Prince Otto, was more important to him at that moment, he encountered complete incomprehension among members of his government because they believed that the king's private interests were behind his duties To stand back against the country. In the years that followed, the king became more and more lonely of his own accord. Even his childhood friend Sisi, Empress Elisabeth of Austria , to whom he has a very special bond, cannot help him. Likewise, their sister, Princess Sophie , to whom he is engaged for a short time and who genuinely loves him, cannot free him from his melancholy. Despite her love of life, she too cannot get him to turn to people.
The Austrian Empress stands steadfastly by King Ludwig, even when people want to accuse him of having fallen into the madness like his brother Otto. However, for selfish motives and with the help of an expert opinion by the psychiatrist Bernhard von Gudden , the cabinet decides to incapacitate the king and to accommodate him at Berg Castle on Lake Starnberg , where windows and doors are barred. After King Ludwig was able to evade arrest at the first attempt, he offered no resistance at another attempt.
The king lives at Berg Castle under the supervision of Guddens. After Sisi had sent him a smuggled letter in which she made an escape plan for him, the King of Gudden asks that he be allowed to go to the Würmsee in his company . When Ludwig is already in the water of the lake and von Gudden tries to prevent him from escaping, a fight breaks out between the men, in which the king strangles the psychiatrist, only to find death in the lake himself.
The film ends when Sisi places a red rose on Ludwig's coffin and asks his forgiveness.
production
Filming
The script was submitted to the House of Wittelsbach in order to obtain a shooting permit in Hohenschwangau Castle , Neuschwanstein and Herrenchiemsee Castle. The film was shot from August 3 to November 11, 1954 at the original locations and in the Bavaria Film Studio in Munich-Geiselgasteig and in the Botanical Garden in Munich-Nymphenburg .
Background, music
Special thanks went to the main actor OW Fischer. Crown Prince Rupprecht received him on February 7, 1955 for a private audience at Nymphenburg Palace . Fischer, in turn, was so impressed by Klaus Kinski that he hired him for his next film Hanussen . When King Ludwig and Empress Sisi are together at the opera, the duet O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe , can be heard from the 2nd act of the opera Tristan und Isolde . When he is alone at the opera with Princess Sophie, bars from Wagner's Das Rheingold , the first part of his tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelung , can be heard . Herbert von Karajan conducts parts of Richard Wagner's operas, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra plays , soloists: Martha Mödl as Isolde and Wolfgang Windgassen as Tristan. The background music will be conducted by Kurt Graunke and played by the Graunke Symphony Orchestra. Heinrich Sutermeister was responsible for the musical design .
publication
The film was also shown at the 8th Cannes International Film Festival in 1955 . It premiered in Belgium on September 30, 1955 and in Portugal on September 25, 1957. In 1959 it was published under the title Mad Emperor: Ludwig II in the USA and on March 9, 1960 in the French capital Paris. It was also published in Brazil, Greece, Hungary, Poland and Spain.
Studiocanal / Kinowelt released the film on June 22, 2004 on DVD. On August 25, 2017, Alive released the film on DVD as part of the “Jewels of Film History” series.
history
Ludwig II (1845–1886) was King of Bavaria until his death. His parents were Crown Prince Maximilian of Bavaria and Crown Princess Marie , a Prussian princess. After Ludwig was incapacitated on June 9, 1886, his uncle Luitpold took over government affairs as Prince Regent in Bavaria. Ludwig, who is also known as the “fairy tale king”, has set himself a monument as a passionate castle builder ( Neuschwanstein , Herrenchiemsee and Linderhof ). Richard Wagner was not only generously supported financially by the king. However, the king was hostile to the composer's anti-Semitism and protested against it.
Ludwig's attempts to remain neutral in the looming war between Prussia and Austria for the leadership in Germany failed. Contrary to the portrayal in the film, Ludwig carried out his official duties conscientiously almost to the end, even if he was often absent.
Ludwig II actually got engaged to the two years younger Duchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria , the youngest sister of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Sophie's mother Ludovika was a half-sister of Ludwig's grandfather Ludwig I. The two had known each other since their childhood and youth, and the king had known Sisi since that time. However, Ludwig showed no ambition to have a wedding follow the engagement and kept postponing the planned dates and increasingly distanced himself from Sophie, only to finally dissolve the engagement that had been made in January 1867 in October of the same year.
In fact, in June 1886, at the instigation of the government, Ludwig II was declared by doctors Bernhard von Gudden , Friedrich Wilhelm Hagen , Hubert von Grashey and Max Hubrich in an expert report based on testimony and without a personal examination for "mentally disturbed" and "incurable". Ludwig's long-time personal physician Max Joseph Schleiß von Löwenfeld , who had known the king from an early age, was not interviewed. King Ludwig II found Lake Starnberg , which was then still known as Würmsee, as did Dr. Gudden death. Both were found a maximum of 25 paces from the shore in the shallow water. There are still numerous rumors about the circumstances that led to the death of the men.
error
The script allows freedom in the preparation of historical events. For example, Otto von Bismarck only met Ludwig in person when he was crown prince . The scene of the Prussian Prime Minister speaking to King Ludwig is therefore unprecedented.
reception
criticism
The contemporary criticism of the film was almost entirely positive:
So was the Süddeutsche Zeitung , which was a "worthy film" and said: "Perhaps this king, played royally by OW Fischer, under Helmut Käutner director, the most lovable of all the kings of the film." In the Frankfurter Allgemeine there was talk of a painting equipped with "great finesse and a lot of pomp that shows pictorial and scenic effects of real drama". In the Frankfurt night edition you could read: Bavaria's fairy tale castles open up with all colors, Richard Wagner's music glorifies, high-profile acting. The Frankfurter Rundschau was also full of praise for the title actor: "OW Fischer paints the image of the Bavarian king with an intensity and abundance of nuances that make this imprint of Ludwig II seem the only correct one." The conclusion was then also: “The best historical film in a long time. The most genuine. The liveliest. ”The Frankfurter Abendpost also focused on the title actor and found:“ OW Fischer, the great leading actor, was never better than in this role. This is the only way - and this film was not allowed to be any different! ”The Westfalenpost also praised:“ A very amazing feat of art! The film, made with great taste and grandiose means, has a powerful suggestive power. ”The Hannoversche Allgemeine said:“ OW Fischer is Ludwig. This film will cast its spell on everyone who sees it! ” Die Welt also spoke of a“ great achievement: great in the dramatic structure, great in the summarizing, flowing, inexorably increasing direction ”. The Rheinpfalz praised: “Helmut Käutner and OW Fischer manage the improbable. They give Ludwig II the tragedy with which history distinguishes him, of intoxicating beauty. ”The Hamburger Abendblatt also praised:“ A historical film that cannot be matched with anything. ”The Hamburger Morgenpost could read : “A legend in splendid, delicate, fiery and melancholy colors.” The weekly newspaper Christ und Welt spoke of “extraordinary scenes: acting, directing, color-wise”. In the Düsseldorfer Nachrichten one was of the opinion: “A film, against which nothing can be said.” In the 8 o'clock newspaper the opinion was: “A cinematic form that will arouse undivided enthusiasm. The historical figures of those involved in the Bavarian royal drama are polished with unheard-of precision. "In Münchner Merkur , Hans Hellmut Kirst wrote :" A more beautiful, haunting, more moving picture of Ludwig II would hardly have been possible. A big risk has succeeded! "
The Lexicon of International Films found in a later review: "Only through the strong portrayal of the title role does the sometimes kitschy film go beyond the level of a gazebo story with involuntary comedy."
Claudius Seidl said in 1987 in Der deutsche Film der Fifties : “That is the special quality of Käutner's film: it has no theory of what Ludwig got sick with, what was the cause of his melancholy. Käutner approaches the Bavarian king questioningly, not arguing. His film is open to all sides, condemns neither Ludwig nor those who could not understand him. "The Heyne Film Lexicon says:" Because of its idealizing and somewhat pathetic form, the portrait of the Bavarian fairy tale king, which proves Käutner's directorial skills, is initially underestimated . "
For filmreporter.de Ludwig II was “a white and blue fairy tale” that “keeps a long distance from the explosive nature of the subject”. Leading actor OW Fischer showed an "emotional game" that lets you "experience the life of the fairy tale king up close" and "makes the loneliness of this dreamer very haunting".
Awards
- 1955: Silver film tape for OW Fischer in the "Best Leading Actor" category
- 1955: Klaus Kinski was nominated for the film tape in gold in the category “Best Acting Achievement in a Supporting Role”.
- 1955: Helmut Käutner was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival .
- Rating of the film evaluation office : "valuable"
- 1956: Bambi in the category "Most commercially successful German film 1955"
literature
- Jonathan Schilling: Prussia again in the film. On images of Prussia in films with Ruth Leuwerik, in: Research on Brandenburg and Prussian History , NF, 29th vol., 2019, H. 1–2, pp. 201–221.
Web links
- Ludwig II. In the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Ludwig II at filmportal.de
- Ludwig II on filmposter-archiv.de
- Ludwig II - Shine and the End of a King (1955) full film
- Ludwig II. Splendor and End of a King (1955) sS cineforum-clasico.org (including various film images)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ludwig II. The splendor and misery of a king Ill. DVD case (in the picture: OW Fischer)
- ↑ Ludwig II - the splendor and misery of a king Fig. DVD case film jewels (in the picture: Ruth Leuwerik, OW Fischer)
- ↑ On the meeting with Crown Prince Ludwig see Bismarck, Otto von: thoughts and memories, vol. I, Munich and Berlin 1920, last chapter.
- ^ The press wrote about "Ludwig II." SS filmposter-archiv.de, accessed on December 27, 2018.
- ^ Ludwig II. In: Lexicon of international film . Film service , accessed May 22, 2017 .
- ^ Claudius Seidl in The German Film of the Fifties . 1987, p. 146.
- ↑ Ludwig II in the Heyne Film Lexicon . 1996.
- ↑ Ludwig II. See filmreporter.de
