Philip French is film reviewer for the British newspaper The Guardian, and he is retiring after 50 years in the job.
He said on the release of The Devils "Ken Russell's best work was done by the early 1970s. First his poetic TV essays on Elgar and Delius. Then, for the big screen, his bravely flamboyant adaptation of Lawrence's Women in Love and this sensational adaptation of John Whiting's 1961 RSC play, based on The Devils of Loudun, Aldous Huxley's remarkable 1952 study of how the church and state conspired to exploit an apparent case of demonic possession in 17th-century France in order to destroy Father Urbain Grandier, a charismatic libertine who challenged their authority. The censors, the film's Hollywood producers and the tabloid press reacted to the film much the way the French authorities did to Grandier in 1634..."
from The Observer 25 Mar 2013 (The Observer is the Sunday companion paper to The Guardian) here
www.theguardian.com/film/2012/mar/25/devils-ken-russell-classic-dvd-frenchRefreshing to have thoughtful reviews on Ken.
He was interviewed on his retirement, and various people asked him questions. I liked Ken Loach's question "Why are you retiring so early" The interview was by Elizabeth Day in The Observer, Sunday 25 August 2013 here
www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/25/philip-french-tribute-readers-questions