From the Chicago Tribune.
From behind the London Times paywall:
Indeed, a memorable scene!
RIP Ken. If there ever was a filmmaker who weren’t afraid to follow his own heart, it was you.
Yes, some of it sucked, but there were some of the most memorable scenes ever made as well.
I loved Savage Messiah. Highly recommended.
The rest… well Lair of the White Worm was… interesting. Well, very silly. Great Celtic rock track in the middle though.
He kinda fudged his image at the end of his life with an appearance on a celebrity reality TV show, but otherwise, RIP.
Russell was the king of excess, and when it worked (not often, alas), it could be very impressive. I remember him best for Tommy, an awful film by any reasonable measure, but fascinating to watch.
The '70s were all about taking hallucinogens and going to see Ken Russell films. For me, anyway. The Boy Friend is one of my absolute all time favorite films (bring it out on DVD, pls!) – and for the rest, well, ridiculous but the man knew how to do visuals.
RIP.
I’m glad he died peacefully and not by being attacked by a laser-shooting guitar-spaceship.
Altered States is one of my top 5 all time favorite movies. He did a lot of over the top stuff, but this one was just over the top enough.
(Favorite scene: Mason reacting to the strange stuff he witnessed by reciting his vita. As a college prof., I get it.)
The Boy Friend is one of my favorite musicals–never been released on DVD, I think. I will rewatch my old TV-recorded videotape this week.
What, no mention of his Garden Club?
*Altered States *is definitely a film that stays with you. So was Whore, although you don’t hear that one discussed much anymore.
*The Devils *was one of the most intense movies I’ve ever seen. Hopefully someday it will get a decent-quality DVD release. *Tommy *was a wonderful mess–fans were taken aback recently when Russell appeared at UCLA to discuss the film…and refused to discuss it.
I’m sorry to read this. A sometimes very weird, and sometimes very wonderful director.
By coincidence, I was just watching Women In Love with Russell’s commentary on Friday night. He tells a funny story about sitting in a theatre behind two elderly British ladies during the naked wrestling scene, wondering what they make of it. Near the end of the scene, when Reed and Bates are lying flat, panting, on the floor, one of the ladies says, “Now that’s a lovely carpet.”
Next March, the DVD will be available from Amazon.uk. It will be better than any other version released to date, although some commenters are bemoaning the “lost” scenes–that were never seen. However, it will be in wide-screen format, with commentaries, etc. Don’t know if it will be released in the USA but I’ve got an all-region DVD player.
Available on Netflix streaming is Russell’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover. No weirdo psychedelic additions–but it does have Young Sean Bean running about as nature intended…
Those weren’t elderly British ladies, that was Eric Idle and John Cleese in drag!
It would not in the least surprise me.
Indeed. I’ll take too over-the-top over mediocre bland every time. The man was not timid.
Are you referring to Lisztomania? Where Franz Liszt shoots down Nazi Frankenstein from a fighter jet/pipe organ filled with women?
Best bad movie ever!
I just watched the scene on YouTube, and they were right–that *is *a lovely carpet.