Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: the return of Romy Schneider as Empress Sissi.
Fascinated by the story of Ludwig II of Bavaria, with whom he shares common ancestors, the Italian director Luchino Visconti decides to devote a feature film to him looking back on his reign, from his coronation at the age of 18 and a half until ‘when he died.
Released in 1973, Ludwig or the twilight of the gods paints, for almost 4 hours, the tragic portrait of this monarch, protector of the Arts and in particular of Richard Wagner, approaching in passing his almost loving complicity with his cousin Sissi, as well as his inclinations morbid.
In addition to the extreme refinement of the staging (the film is shot both in the Cinecittà studios in Rome and in the real castles of Ludwig II in Bavaria), Ludwig also applies to the extraordinary performance of Helmut Berger in the skin of a complex, vulnerable, hypersensitive and melancholy man.
Special mention, too, to Romy Schneider, who accepted for Visconti (and for him alone) to resume the role that made him famous in his youth, delivering here a composition more faithful to the historical reality of the tormented empress, with a dark character and shady.
With an average of 4.1/5, Ludwig or the twilight of the gods is one of Luchino Visconti’s most popular works by AlloCiné viewers.
Ludwig or the twilight of the gods by Luchino Visconti with Helmut Berger, Romy Schneider, Silvana Mangano…
Tonight on Arte at 8:50 p.m.