Author Topic: Lisztomania  (Read 7998 times)

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Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Lisztomania
« Reply #14 on: July 17, 2018, 05:57:27 PM »
"And why the bad acting?
If one has seen some of Ringo's other film performances, he is a much better actor, than what one sees here."

Agreed, he shows his acting ability in A Hard Day's Night and also That'll Be The Day.  But he does seem to be on automatic pilot in Lisztomania.

If Ringo is on automatic pilot here, which would explain much, what does that say about Ken, who could get a good performance out of almost anyone?

Offline Iain Fisher

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Re: Lisztomania
« Reply #13 on: July 15, 2018, 01:24:07 AM »
"And why the bad acting?
If one has seen some of Ringo's other film performances, he is a much better actor, than what one sees here."

Agreed, he shows his acting ability in A Hard Day's Night and also That'll Be The Day.  But he does seem to be on automatic pilot in Lisztomania.

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Lisztomania
« Reply #12 on: April 10, 2018, 11:57:19 PM »
Final thoughts

Who and why did they green lit this film? Despite all the talent involved, certainly, they must have realized this, from the script, would never fly, but crash and burn. And if it was approved without a script, it goes to show that most films should not be approved without a workable script being available.

How disappointed everyone must have been. Ken comes off one of his best films in Tommy only to go into one of his worst films in this.

If a director has a bad film, it comes early in their career, when they are still somewhat inexperienced or later in their career. If one looks at what is considered Ken's best and worst films, he has a long "later in their career." For while he would continue to make films for another 3 decades, his last good film is considered to be Tommy, which he made back in 1975.

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Lisztomania
« Reply #11 on: March 29, 2018, 11:26:35 PM »
Ken Russell - Interview

Upon its, apparent, 1st release to DVD, getcloser.com, in 2009, did an interview with Ken Russell about his film Lisztomania. I don't know whether the interview taught us anything we did not already know, such as Lisztomania is very much a Ken Russell film. What we do see that even in 2009, Ken was ailing very badly and had to use a cane to get around. Nor does it help that Ken's voice was very weak at this time, and it was very hard to hear his answers to the interviewer's questions.

Next time: final thoughts on Lisztomania.

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Lisztomania
« Reply #10 on: March 17, 2018, 10:17:48 PM »
Alison Anders on Lisztomania (3:22)

Apparently, one of the few to like it. Still, she makes a number of important points.

Liszt was probably the first rock star.

With Beatlemania being a play on Liszt's Lisztomania, as both the fans of the Beatles and Liszt behaved in the same way, when confronted by their idols.

When Lisztomania was made in 1975, it was the age of Glitter and Tim Curry in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Excess at its height. Still, excess can be excessive (IMHO) at it is here.

Next time: Final thoughts?


Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Lisztomania
« Reply #9 on: March 03, 2018, 08:37:44 PM »
Lisztomania - Roger Daltrey - Peace at Last (3:37)

It's been done better. Specifically in "Tommy's" "Pinball Wizard" scene.

And that is the specific problem with "Lisztomania," that I see. If this is the only Ken Russell film one has seen, then it may not be so bad, but in comparison with scenes from his other films, it fails badly.

Next time: Allison Anders on Lisztomania

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Lisztomania
« Reply #8 on: February 17, 2018, 05:33:56 PM »
Lisztomania : Phallus Song Reaction (5:47)

Unfortunately, . . .
--the scene itself is not shown. We only get shown the reaction to the scene.
--we do not get the ages of the reactors (2 girls and a boy.)
--there is no 2nd reaction from those who saw it the 1st time, some 6 years before.

Fortunately, . . .
--from the laughter of the reactors, it seems to be a comedy scene that works. Maybe, because it is so absurd, even by Ken's standards.

Next time: peace at last

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Lisztomania
« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2018, 07:04:10 PM »
Lisztomania "Pope Ringo" (3:36)

Roger Daltrey
Paul Nicholas
Rick Wakeman
and Ringo makes it 4.
Among Ken's films, probably only "Tommy" has more singers-musicians in it.

And why the bad acting?
If one has seen some of Ringo's other film performances, he is a much better actor, than what one sees here.

And Ken can get a good performance from some surprising actors.
For example: if one has seen some of Chris Pitt's other performances, the actor who played Kevin in Ken's "Lair of the White Worm," his performance there is probably his best performance to date.

Note Ken's seeming fondness for masculine looking women. Which seemingly date back to the time that Ken was working as a photographer.,

A scalpel works better than a sledgehammer. Here Ken uses a sledgehammer.

Next time: Lisztomania phallus song reaction.


Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Lisztomania
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2018, 10:54:22 PM »
Lisztomania "Wagner's Exorcism" (4:21)

For an unsubtle director, Ken can be remarkably subtle. Except here. And (IMHO) the scene suffers from it.

It also suffers (again IMHO) that rarity in one of Ken's films--bad acting. Probably the worst to date in any of the clips I have seen so far. And probably--again--asking too much from the actors and their acting capabilities.

Next time: Pope Ringo

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Lisztomania
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2018, 09:50:36 PM »
Lisztomania "Devil Song" (2:56)

Lisztomania may not be a very good film, but in some ways it is a fairly accurate film. Whether what Liszt is wearing here is totally correct, I cannot say, but here it does point out how Liszt was a member of the 3rd Order of Saint Francis.

Female nudity
What is a Ken Russell film without female nudity? And here again he lays it out in spades.

Male nudity
What? They could not find an actor to appear nude in the film. That is one of the things about Ken's films. There is almost as much male nudity, as there is female nudity.

Next time: Wagner's exorcism.

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Lisztomania
« Reply #4 on: December 26, 2017, 09:19:44 PM »
Clip (3:00)

I 1st tried to access the 2:52 minute clip on you tube, but was blocked, as it was rated as being "inappropriate for some users." Though, how that clip is more inappropriate than the clips seen so far, I have no idea.

Thus the 3:00 minute clip with Roger Daltrey as Lizst as Charlie Chaplain in a silent film with another actress playing Charlie's wife. Unlike the other clips so far from Lisztomania and the clips from Ken's other films, this clip seemed to be without meaning. Without meaning, unless one watched the film up to that point.

Next time: Lisztomania "Devil Song"

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Lisztomania
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2017, 10:26:00 PM »
Lisztomania - Superior Race (3:23)

Wagner seduces the children in the scene to believe they are the superior race, which is comparable to the seduction scene in Lair of the White Worm, where the villainess seduces the boy scout.

Though, unlike that scene, where the villainess kills off the boy scout, no child character was physically harmed in the scene. Nor is any of the children seen nude, unlike the scene in Lair of the White Worm, where the boy scout is seen nude in the sunken bathtub.

Yet (IMHO) the seduction scene in Lair of the White Worm works better than this seduction scene in Lisztomania, and it is not because of the violence or the lack thereof or the nudity or lack thereof, it is because of . . .

The Acting
Chris Pitt who plays the scout in the film turns in a better acting performance than any of the child actors in the seduction scene in Lisztomania.

The Humor
The seduction scene in Lisztomania lacks the humor that suffuses the seduction scene in Lair of the White Worm. Though, there is seemingly one humorous moment at the end of the scene in Lisztomania, where Wagner takes off his wig, and it looks like he is wearing hair curlers.

The Reality
Despite all the fantastic elements in the seduction scene in Lair of the White Worm, the relationship between the boy scout and his killer is fairly realistic, if stretched. While Wagner may have been an anti-Semite, his attitude toward Jews was more nuanced than depicted by Ken in the seduction scene in Lisztomania. And if the children are dressed like Supermen, it apparently reflects Nietzsche's concept of Superman, which is again more nuanced than depicted by Ken in the film.

The Sympathy
While Ken seems to be sympathetic with the children in the scene in Lisztomania, his sympathy for the scout in Lair of the White Worm seems to be more mixed. And that actually seems to work better.

Next time: Lisztomania - clip

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Lisztomania
« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2017, 08:21:53 PM »
Richard Wagner's Auferstehung (3:06)

What one notices about this clip, where lightning strikes Wagner's tomb, and he rises as a Frankenstein-like Monster wielding a guitar firing bullets, is Ken's propensity to repeat himself in his film. Like his "Mahler" of the previous year, that being made in 1974, and this being made in 1975, both films deal with the subject of anti-Semitics.

Though, (IMHO) Mahler is the better of the 2 films for a couple of reasons.
1st. The focus is on the Jewish Mahler, while this film is focused on the non-Jewish Wagner and Liszt. And . . .
2nd. Of Robert Powell, Roger Daltrey, and Paul Nicholas, Robert Powell is the better actor.

One thing I did notice, that I cannot ever remember seeing in one of Ken's film, is the voodoo doll and its use.

Of course, none of this explains Ken's interest, as a non-Semitic, in anti-Semitics. He, seemingly, doing more films on the subject than many directors, even many Jewish directors.

Next time: Lisztomania - superior race

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Lisztomania
« Reply #1 on: December 02, 2017, 08:30:10 PM »
Introduction

Regarded as being one of Ken's worst films, and a film I have yet to see, but that will soon change, in part, as there is the trailer, film clips, an interview with Ken, and other people's reactions to the film on the internet, which I will soon see and comment on.