Really Surprised!

It is so daring, it is so ambitious, it is so thrilling and weird and pointed and powerful. I never knew where it was going.

The acting in this movie is really good.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

This movie is portraying Ludwig as a weak and disabled good for nothing king. What they forget to point out in this movie is that Ludwig was one of the greatest artists that ever lived. Together with his friend, idol and partner Richard Wagner he created the greatest and most beautiful monument to European culture in history. In his short life Ludwig created more out of pure passion then most people ever will. If you want to be introduced to king Ludwig: do not watch this movie because it is completely failing to portray him. Instead go for the perfect ''Ludwig II'' by Visconti, The tv series ''Wagner'' starring Richard Burton or ''Ludwig II Glanz und Ende eines Königs'' by Helmut Käutner.

This movie is amazing and I'm shocked that it only has a 5.9 on IMDb. Everyone I know who has seen this movie (mostly German friends... I'm American) including myself love this movie. It's a long film but I really enjoyed it and you can't exactly tell the story of a King's life in 90 minutes. All of the cast were excellent actors and really had you believing they were the characters they were portraying. The costumes were great and not overdone or cheesy like a lot of historical films make the mistake of doing. As for the story itself: I'm from the USA and raised in public schools all my life so it shouldn't be any surprise that I was never taught about Ludwig II. In fact, this film is the only reason I know his name. After watching the film I actually did some research on Ludwig and realized pretty much everything from the film was based on actual events and solid facts of Ludwig's life... a refreshing change from the typical more-fiction-than-fact "historical dramas" released in my country. I wish I could buy the film on DVD and hopefully someday that will be an option.

costumes. and atmosphere. and nothing else to define it . because the lead actor seems be prisoner of his role. because the film is too long for give a credible message. because the good point remains the good intentions and the bad point is only the same good intentions. a film who presents not bad acting around a wax doll. and only regret is to not deserve a real good subject. sure it is not the worst historical film. but Sabin Tambrea seems be lost in middle of his work.and the memories about biography of Ludwig or about the magnificent film by Luchino Visconti are stairs who not advantage this Ludwig II. Sebastian Schipper saves a part of lead character. but the last scenes not are the wise manner to transform a sketch in a portrait.

"Ludwig II" is a German movie from 3 years ago that almost runs for 2.5 hours. It was written and directed by Marie Noelle and the late Peter Sehr, for both of them (so far) the last project, and they collaborated on other films before this one too. Their work here features some of Germany's most known actors in supporting roles including Thalbach, Selge, Herzsprung, Ochsenknecht, Schilling, Burkhard, Milberg and von Dohnányi. The title character is played by Sabin Tambrea for 2 thirds of the film and by Sebastian Schipper, who just directed the very successful "Victoria", for the final chapter when the character has aged considerably.I thought this film could have been cut short on many occasions, certainly down to a runtime of 100 minutes without losing anything of worth. Tambrea (who always reminds me of a young Cumberbatch with less talent, not that BC has a lot of himself) got a German Film Award nomination and this really baffled me. I thought there was nothing natural at all about his performance here. It all seems artificial and forced, but maybe that is just my personal perception. Anyway, when Schipper took over it became better, still not a good film, but the change in talent became visible. And I liked the ending of the film, which was also the ending of Ludwig. Talking about visual, this is probably the only area where the film is mostly convincing in terms of the sets, costumes etc. All this, however, cannot make up for the lack of an entertaining or thrilling story and the lack of an actor who is up to the task to play the title character beyond over-the-top mannerisms. Weak period piece, not recommended.