Visconti's lavish portrait of Ludwig II, the 'Mad King' of Bavaria. From his glittering coronation to his mysterious suicide, Ludwig II (Helmut Berger) epitomised the doomed nineteenth-century Romantic hero. A loner by nature, he was tormented by his unrequited love for his cousin, Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Romy Schneider), who sensed his true sexual nature and fragile grip on reality. But as war raged around him, Ludwig's sole obsession remained...

The splendor and music of nineteenth-century Europe set the background for this romanticized biography of Hungarian pianist Franz Liszt, a man torn between his music, the church, and the woman he loves.