tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post6734610169217336983..comments2024-03-26T05:01:57.793-07:00Comments on DREAMS ARE WHAT LE CINEMA IS FOR...: THE MUSIC LOVERS 1971Ken Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-57062236206787182472023-11-20T02:50:30.146-08:002023-11-20T02:50:30.146-08:00It's thrilling to know that Russell had the op...<br />It's thrilling to know that Russell had the opportunity to be present to see contemporary audiences responding to his movies. The screening of THE MUSIC LOVERS you both reference sounds particularly memorable. His cinematic legacy endures.<br />Thank you for visiting this poste and for sharing with us your story of being there to enjoy that special moment with Russell. Love that you were good friends with one of English cinema's most preeminent artists. Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-50611019769962788992023-11-18T22:46:08.181-08:002023-11-18T22:46:08.181-08:00I was also there and to witness the audience's...I was also there and to witness the audience's reaction still gives me chills. I was there with Ken and was elated to experience that reception.I would often tell Ken how audiences react to his films in the states. He finally saw it for himself. Our love for one another was epic, platonically speaking. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-6507881072539253662023-06-25T09:29:52.193-07:002023-06-25T09:29:52.193-07:00Hello, João Paulo
Reading your review of THE MUSIC...Hello, João Paulo<br />Reading your review of THE MUSIC LOVERS was such a joy! You gave me the marvelous vicarious experience of someone seeing it for the first time. It's always interesting to read what people take note of the first time they see something I've watched for decades.<br />Like you, I, too, find movie biographies today hampered by a too-formulaic approach. So it's nice to hear that something Russell was so taken to task for back in the day (deviating from historical accuracy and making his biographical films such personal visions) proves to be a winning factor today.<br /><br />Of course, I liked all you noted about Glenda Jackson and her performance. Particularly your awareness of her depth, her emotional nakedness, and the fact that she indeed has what it takes never to be submerged by Russell's brilliant lunacy. (How surprising to learn that the character she plays was in Tchaikovsky's life for such a short time!)<br /> I can see why he so often wanted to work with her, and why she was wise to turn down roles (like in The Devils) that would have easily typed her as Ken Russell's favorite madwoman.<br /><br />You bring up great talking points regarding Russell’s willingness to explore the rarely-referenced aspects of sexuality--Gay, female, homophobic, gynophobic---but daringly, not exploitatively.<br /><br />And as for your taking years to get yourself into the mood to tackle Ken Russell, I don't think there's a Ken Russell fan alive who couldn't understand and relate to your needing to brace yourself or be in the proper mood to watch his films. I think the idea that a viewer has to mentally gird their loins before approaching his work would have made Russell very proud.<br />It sounds like you approach Russell in an open-minded, receptive way. Willing to go where his stories take you, but thoughtfully and analytically. You’re aware of your responses to his work.<br />I appreciate your stopping this post and contributing your insightful essay. Thank you.<br />It’s great hearing from you, João Paulo. And I hope you are doing well and are happy and healthy.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-50135243689990847672023-06-23T21:44:48.276-07:002023-06-23T21:44:48.276-07:00Well, it honestly takes me YEARS to gather the str...Well, it honestly takes me YEARS to gather the strength to watch a Ken Russell movie. I'm never disappointed with his work, but it is such an assault to the senses that I can't help but avoid them in favor of some future opportunity when I'm more welcoming to the madness.<br />Recently we lost Glenda Jackson and after seeing all my favorites of hers, it was time to go through uncharted territory - and the path logically brought me to this one.<br />I was kinda jaded and with not too much goodwill for The Music Lovers as the recent trend of biopics in the Hollywood awards circuit has made me bitter towards what has become a trademark of the genre: lazy script, manipulative narrative, uninteresting characters, the obsession about "the actor's transformation into the real person" and blahblahblah.<br />I press play and WOW. How could I have forgotten that we were talking about Russell! It took me 5 minutes for me to remember that (for better or worse) his directing voice would never be something less than passionate. I'm just in awe at how he could make a story about someone else feel so deeply personal and unique. He's not a director for hire, he's a storyteller!<br /><br />Chamberlain is solid eye candy, and I felt a lot of sympathy for his character, though unlike Glenda he just cannot rise above the lunacy around. I watched it just for her, but even though I surrendered to the beauty of everything else on the screen, I can say that the sparkle in her eyes, this little moments of revelation she shares with the screen, were maybe some of the finest moments of the piece: through them we understand the power of music, the violence of repressed desire, the hunger that cannibalized everybody around Tchaikovsky and ultimately the blooming of the black flower of madness. She had much more time here than in "Women in Love" (surprisingly, as her stay in Tchaikovsky's life didn't last more than 3 months), and as far as range goes, here she stretched her acting muscles beyond what most high profile actresses were used to do by then. Her willingness to undo herself in front of the camera is admirable, and to me as groundbreaking then as Bette Davis was in "Of Human Bondage", decades earlier. <br /><br />I can understand this movie not being well received at the time as I have to admit some of it was disturbing to me. The train scene, with Glenda's naked body bouncing around and the repulsion that it created on Piotr felt so close to home. My boyfriend and I often discuss about the relationship we have with the female body: we so admire its beauty and its strength, but its explicit sexual nudity is so violent to us for some reason. And I think the film made it so easy to feel his terror that most straight viewers were probably confused themselves. It also pleases me to see you discussing the damages of a repressed sexuality, and I think that at least in his late 60s and early 70s films, this is what Ken Russell is willing to discuss the most, and succeeds beautifully, specially when it comes to the marginalized sexualities of his day: homossexuality and feminine sexuality, presented through the many forms of platonic and unfulfilled love. <br />Gosh, how I missed Ken's vibrant, poetic, colorful and menacing style! I can't wait to watch another one of his films...<br />... But as usual, I might need a couple months to recover from this one.<br /><br />Hoping you are doing well and happy, Ken! Wishes of joy and health for you and yours!João Paulo Duarte da Silvahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04963026275763481327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-76248643931867965232016-07-25T19:48:44.597-07:002016-07-25T19:48:44.597-07:00!!!!!
Hello, Lisi
I'm humbled and SO pleased t...!!!!!<br />Hello, Lisi<br />I'm humbled and SO pleased to have you read this post and to be so kind as to leave a comment! Ken Russell certainly shaped my early years, and I envy your having had the opportunity to share a life (and no doubt, amazing conversations) with an artist the likes of which we'll probably never see again. Thank you!<br />(P.S. - It's nice to hear he was sweet!)Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-70847965032590966442016-07-25T19:43:00.045-07:002016-07-25T19:43:00.045-07:00Hi Tanya
I can't imagine you'd ever come b...Hi Tanya<br />I can't imagine you'd ever come back to read this, but I'm correcting an oversight from five months ago! How I missed your lovely comment the first time around I'll never know, but I say thank you from the bottom of my heart. <br />I hope by now you've tracked down a Ken Russell film or two. I've rewatched "Mahler" since, and it is even better than I remembered. Thanks, TanyaKen Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-28169240479409812512016-07-25T18:17:06.773-07:002016-07-25T18:17:06.773-07:00Thanks for acknowledging the work of the truest, a...Thanks for acknowledging the work of the truest, admittedly unruly, most imaginative and sweetest artist it has been my great good fortune to have loved and married. Great article and comments. Prestidigationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09068829463488392784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-50361363265126220522016-03-03T21:57:53.846-08:002016-03-03T21:57:53.846-08:00the petal scattering really happened.the petal scattering really happened.daisyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16025237555088858070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-54703373910962412162016-02-29T18:04:00.266-08:002016-02-29T18:04:00.266-08:00Thanks for including that link Deb.
I saw those p...Thanks for including that link Deb. <br />I saw those pics a while back and I loved how they evoked those quick cutaway scenes of the Teddy Boys in the "I'm Free" sequence of "Tommy".<br />Always so fascinating how the through-line of his work is starting to emerge so many years after his passing.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-61242968574553215252016-02-29T17:59:46.584-08:002016-02-29T17:59:46.584-08:00I haven't seen it in years (Happily I got to s...I haven't seen it in years (Happily I got to see it on the big screen), but "The Devils" is another huge favorite. As you say, not for everybody, but an achievement impossible to dismiss even if you don't like it.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-7868112019801103572016-02-29T00:19:06.528-08:002016-02-29T00:19:06.528-08:00Nice write-up on this wonderful film by Ken Russel...Nice write-up on this wonderful film by Ken Russell, one of my all-time fave directors. And, I can't believe nobody's yet mentioned THE DEVILS (1971), Russell's best film and one of the greatest films ever made IMO. Love it or hate it, you'll never forget it.WaverBoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05862354521504490472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-85513613157328720252016-02-28T07:37:40.849-08:002016-02-28T07:37:40.849-08:00Had to drop back in to share this amazing article ...Had to drop back in to share this amazing article from the Flashbak website. Obviously, Ken Russell's eye for interesting compositions developed early. And I love those clothes: http://flashbak.com/ken-russells-brilliant-photos-of-teddy-girls-from-1955-53195/DiscoDollyDebnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-74310000083664912722016-02-22T14:38:25.395-08:002016-02-22T14:38:25.395-08:00As a lifelong ardent Anglophile, I can truthfully ...As a lifelong ardent Anglophile, I can truthfully state that London is my spiritual home, as it's the place that I have felt more myself than anywhere else, despite being a born-and-bred California girl. In reality, however, I live in the Sierra Nevada foothills, between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. Pretty much the polar opposite of London, metaphorically if not geographically. ;)lilianavonkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09363096499107106137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-58862742701420093832016-02-18T19:43:36.878-08:002016-02-18T19:43:36.878-08:00Hi Lila
I agree, Gregory's comments are beauti...Hi Lila<br />I agree, Gregory's comments are beautifully expressed.<br />And yes, I'd heard the news about Jackson returning to the stage! How fantastic is that? Are you a Londoner? I got to see her here in LA when she played Martha in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" - I can only hope her re-entry into acting might lead to film roles.<br />And thank you very much re: the Liz Smith mention. Ha! This little people was quite thrilled, I tell you! :-)<br />Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-87346723260454304152016-02-18T14:20:01.242-08:002016-02-18T14:20:01.242-08:00I have no other intelligible reply to Gregory'...I have no other intelligible reply to Gregory's comment except, "Wow!" and *hearteyes*<br /><br />I wanted to let you know that Glenda Jackson is returning to the stage in King Lear this October, and to congratulate you on the Liz Smith column! I can't think of a nicer person or a more deserving blog to receive such attention and accolades. Please, though, do try to remember us little people now that you've hit the big time... ;)lilianavonkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09363096499107106137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-30866177231218280612016-02-16T17:01:17.962-08:002016-02-16T17:01:17.962-08:00Hi Gregory
What a beautifully written, loving trib...Hi Gregory<br />What a beautifully written, loving tribute to an influential, albeit sorely underappreciated director!<br />I've known many people (all artists) who feel the same way you do, finding in Russell's work an inspiration to explore the arts (and through that, a sense of self).<br />Your comment is a perfect testament to the enduring influence of Russell's work and why filmmakers (good ones) are often more than just their boxoffice value.<br />Thanks so much, Gregory!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-807098450642059492016-02-15T08:07:12.576-08:002016-02-15T08:07:12.576-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Gregoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072841840657518591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-66621853600444826232016-02-09T18:17:00.329-08:002016-02-09T18:17:00.329-08:00Hi Max
You've nailed it in noting that - wheth...Hi Max<br />You've nailed it in noting that - whether Russell is one's cup of tea or not - it can't be denied that his films are (for better or worse) uniquely singular visions. The stamp of conformity and convention is so strong on so many films, but you could never say that about Ken Russell.<br />I really love his 70s output and can't say I harbor fond memories of much o his work past "Valentino" - but a great deal of that has to do with what I expected of him after "Tommy"...and Ken Russell is not a director one should harbor expectations about.<br />I need to revisit his latter career films to see if there really was a decline, or if I was just disappointed that he was turning out "good" films rather than "brilliant" films.<br /><br />He certainly can't be dismissed, and we all miss Glenda Jackson! If the Internet can devise a viable property for talents like Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, hope the new landscape for filmmaking brings something to Jackson now that (what with a recent piece in EW) it looks like she might be returning to acting.<br />Thanks, Max!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-60481882528360190602016-02-09T04:34:31.524-08:002016-02-09T04:34:31.524-08:00Ken,
I'm so happy you're giving this movie...Ken,<br />I'm so happy you're giving this movie the recognition it deserves. It's not so much that his films stand up after decades--they do--but that they are such singular and heady experiences. There was nothing quite like them then, or now. I'm still on the fence about Crimes of Passion, (although I do like Whore) but almost everything from Women in Love through Valentino (which I just saw again in a terrific Blu Ray) are for the most part, pretty extraordinary.<br /><br />I recently got into a debate about Russell with someone who dismisses him. With her arms waving, looking all wild and furious, her arguments were so passionate and extravagant and florid and detailed (she'd seen everything) that I said, "this is why Russell can't be dismissed." <br /><br />We did agree on one thing--we both miss seeing Glenda Jackson.<br /><br />Thanks, Ken!<br />Max Frostnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-12393398718847682282016-02-08T01:08:06.133-08:002016-02-08T01:08:06.133-08:00Hi George
I agree with you that this film (and mos...Hi George<br />I agree with you that this film (and most Russell films) really looks spectacular on the big screen. The DVD copy is the crispest I've ever seen it, but his overwhelming images still cry out for large-scale exhibition.<br />So terrific that you got to see his films with an appreciative audience and Russell himself in attendance. <br />From my own exposure to Russell when I was young, I know well how potent his films can be. The greatest gift his films offer is that they offer an almost entirely new experience when revisited in adulthood.<br />Glad to read that so many people have an appreciation for his work. <br />He was truly one of a kind. Thanks for sharing sch a nice personal memory of you long appreciation of a director too-often overlooked!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-33890575008776553002016-02-07T12:09:11.829-08:002016-02-07T12:09:11.829-08:00Thank you for giving The Music Lovers a well deser...Thank you for giving The Music Lovers a well deserved showcase on your blog.<br /><br />The Music Lovers messed with my gay little head when I was all of 16 years old. I saw it on a double bill with Savage Messiah. Taking in those two films was overwhelming. (Myra Breckinridge didn't prepare me at all!) They left me with the unshakeable conviction of a 16 year old that these were the two greatest films of all time. What a pleasure to catch up with them again as an adult and discover that my youthful appreciation for the films was not misplaced (even if they are probably not the two greatest films of all time.) <br /><br />Ken Russell really was a genius. Dorothy Tutin's performance in Savage Messiah remains incandescent. Russell's visual imagery is, again and again, uniquely compelling and impressive. No one sees the world the way Ken Russell does. And, again, OMG to Dorothy Tutin. <br /><br />A few years ago, shortly before Russell's death, Lincoln Center had a retrospective of his films. I caught many of them. He was present for many of the screenings. What an absolute privilege it was to see The Music Lovers on a big screen again, with Ken Russell in attendance. It was a wonderful thing for him to be able to see them all again, as they were intended to be seen, in a theater, on a big screen, and with an appreciative audience.<br /><br />When viewed on the big screen, the moment at Tchaikovsky's party when the children dance in front of the waterfall of fireworks is resplendent. One of my favorite moments ever in film. The Lincoln Center audience broke into applause at that moment. This entire film calls out to be seen in a theater. See it at home, if you have to, but if you ever find it playing in a theater, move heaven and earth to get there.<br /><br />I understand that The Music Lovers is uneven, but that's only because it has so many moments of genius. George W. Tushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13050905945846094987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-40828198354876202992016-02-07T03:34:04.623-08:002016-02-07T03:34:04.623-08:00Hi Lila
Chamberlain is a major babe, but it's ...Hi Lila<br />Chamberlain is a major babe, but it's sort of strange how little Richard Chamberlain registered for me when I was growing up. I missed his entire reign as king of the TV miniseries (I only saw "The Thorn Birds" for the first time last year) and I always have to remind myself his was in The Three Musketeers, in spite of having seen that film more times than I can count.<br />I guess my crushing on him in old age is better than nothing.<br />I am impressed at the scope of pop-cultural references you have integrated into your real life. You're a woman after my own heart, as my friends often tire of me referencing movies at every turn and for every occasion.<br />I liked Kenneth Colley in this so much, I had to IMDB him to see why I hadn't remembered him from more films. It turns out I hadn't seen him in all that many; merely "Life of Brian" (which I didn't remember at all, making your Jesus association all the more amusing) and the times he was cast by Ken Russell.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-27590086742734077092016-02-06T12:38:02.844-08:002016-02-06T12:38:02.844-08:00I too had a huuuge crush on Richard Chamberlain in...I too had a huuuge crush on Richard Chamberlain in my youth, albeit more from Richard Lester's two Musketeers films and the version of The Man in the Iron Mask he starred in--all of which seemed to be on continual repeat on tv during the late 70's/early 80's, and of course, there was The Thorn Birds...though the last time I rewatched that, at a much older age--and with my gaydar far more significantly developed--I couldn't help but read the subtext VERY differently. (Irrelevant fashion note: in the 80's I had a rather ecclesiastical-looking black coat that my friends and I always referred to as the Father Ralph de Bricassart.)<br /><br />Even more irrelevant trivia note: whenever I see Kenneth Colley, I always think, "Jesus!" Because that's who he played in Monty Python's Life of Brian.<br /><br />(ETA: sorry, had to delete and republish due to a typo. Because that's the kind of hyper-vigilant pedant I am.)lilianavonkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09363096499107106137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-33412946784470513702016-02-05T02:40:46.315-08:002016-02-05T02:40:46.315-08:00Mark, once again you channel so many of my Angloph...Mark, once again you channel so many of my Anglophile tastes! Just above I was singing hymns of praise for "Mahler".<br />I found it to be just as you say, less baroque than his other films and more in line with his striking BBC films. I especially love Georgina Hale in in. A smaller but no less extraordinary Ken Russell film.<br />Oh, and I saw his Delius film just last night. Wow! I was so impressed. Such a beautiful film. Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-73490539062431421842016-02-05T02:13:29.573-08:002016-02-05T02:13:29.573-08:00Hi Deb
I have never seen "Dante's Infern...Hi Deb <br />I have never seen "Dante's Inferno" - but I have found it on YouTube so I hope to watch it soon. I did see "Savage Messiah" for the first time last year. I really enjoyed the movie, but had such a hard time with the actor playing Gaudier, I felt I only half experienced it.<br />Russell really was in a class by himself in liberating the biographical film from the tribute/pedestal tradition. As I discover more of his BBC films it becomes clearer to me that this was even a stronger legacy than the late career excesses he came to be so associated with.<br />In your citing the perhaps disadvantageous circumstances of big budgets and notoriety of his later years, Russell almost becomes a figure suitable for one of his own biographies (which he did with an odd little film about himself titled "A British Picture")in that his work came to reflect a man becoming a tad too self aware of the effect his art had on people.<br /><br />The biographical info you relay about Bernstein is perfect encapsulating exactly what "The Music Lovers" addresses. An extremely common phenomenon in the arts, one repeated through the ages and even today, but it's wonderful that Russell was one of the first (if not THE first) to bring such honesty to a genre known for distancing itself from its subjects and turning them into museum figures.<br />Always fascinating to contemplate the role repression plays in the development of expressive creativity in people. Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Deb!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.com