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Ludwig (1973)
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Ludwig is a 1973 French-German-Italian movie directed by Luchino Visconti (Senso '45, The Leopard) and deals with the life and decline of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. At just 19, Bavaria's fairytale King Ludwig II ascends the throne. He is less interested in diplomacy than in the fine arts. He becomes a generous sponsor of artists and musicians, especially Richard Wagner. But the hoped-for thanks are missing. Bitterly he withdraws and hardly cares about government affairs. Only with his cousin Elisabeth of Austria does he find a soul mate who sticks to him but does not return his love. Thereupon Ludwig Sissis married Sophie. He commissioned huge buildings, but his huge dream castles swallowed up enormous amounts. Finally, he is declared mentally ill and disempowered due to his "wastefulness".
Romy Schneider celebrated her breakthrough through the Sissi films in the 1950s, in which she portrayed a rather romanticized version of the empress. Later, she moved away from this image through European art films and more serious roles. That is why Schneider was initially skeptical when she was again offered the Austrian empress role, this time by her close friend Visconti. Before accepting, she made sure that Sissi in this film would not appear romanticized, but disillusioned and sometimes cynical, as the real Empress Elisabeth was also portrayed by contemporaries and historians.
The story was retold in the 2012 movie with Sabin Tambrea as the titular character.
The following weapons were used in the film Ludwig:
Podewils-Lindner M1858/67
Most of the Bavarian soldiers can be seen carrying Podewils-Lindner M1858/67 rifles.
Unknown Carbines
During Ludwig's (Helmut Berger) stay in Berg Palace at Lake Starnberg in 1886, several soldiers are armed with unknown carbines.
Rast & Gasser M1898
Count von Holstein (Umberto Orsini) takes an Austro-Hungarian Rast-Gasser M1898 revolver to search for Ludwig II (Helmut Berger) and Professor Bernhard von Gudden (Heinz Moog). This unresolved incident happened on June 13, 1886, so the appearance of this revolver is clearly an anachronism. A Reichsrevolver M1879 would be more accurate for this time period.
Von Holstein checks the chambers by rotaiting the cylinder.
He raised it in the air to explain to the deputies how the search should proceed. Note the missing lanyard ring on the bottom of the grip.