Author Topic: Hell on Earth :  (Read 5592 times)

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Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Hell on Earth :
« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2015, 06:58:34 PM »
Part VI

25. While the sound was extremely poor, there were some tidbits that I gathered from Part VI.

26. The most disturbing scene, even more so than "The Rape of Christ" was the Reverend Mother using Father Grandier's leg bone, after he had been burnt at the stake, to masturbate herself.

27. The best film clip from the film, was some hot female-on-female action.

28. Ken can do female-on-female action, as here, or as in "The Rainbow."

29. He can do female-on-boy action, as in "The Lair of the White Worm."

30. He can even do male-on-boy action, as in "Salome's Last Dance."

31. But . . .?! For all the homosexual characters in his films, excluding the nude wrestling in "Women in Love," he cannot seem to do memorable male-on-male action.

32. "The Devils." A film only Russell could do properly.

And that concludes that.

Next time: another film from the files of Ken Russell.

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Hell on Earth :
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2015, 06:50:01 PM »

"A lot of credit for the success of the film is given to the working relationship between Ken Russell and Derek Jarman. Thus, it is sad that they would work together only twice more: "Savage Messiah" and "Aria.""

Jarman's work with Ken was great, but in Aria they didn't work together, they each directed separately one of the films that make up the anthology.  Aria is well worth seeing, some good stuff by Ken, Jean Luc Goddard (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBuItHpetqQ)- I know Ken hated this film, Robert Altman and Charles Sturridge.  I really didn't like Jarman's piece.

Ken's section is easily the best
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0RlNqHW_zg

Thank-you for that correction. Then I am sorry that they only worked together one more time in "Savage Messiah." And I agree that Ken's segment in "Aria" is one of the better segments of that film. The one thing that I regret is that there was never an "Aria II." There are so many directors and filmmakers, not seen in the 1st film, that could have made a valuable contribution to a 2nd film.

Offline Iain Fisher

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    • Iain Fisher
Re: Hell on Earth :
« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2015, 10:02:38 PM »

"A lot of credit for the success of the film is given to the working relationship between Ken Russell and Derek Jarman. Thus, it is sad that they would work together only twice more: "Savage Messiah" and "Aria.""

Jarman's work with Ken was great, but in Aria they didn't work together, they each directed separately one of the films that make up the anthology.  Aria is well worth seeing, some good stuff by Ken, Jean Luc Goddard (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBuItHpetqQ)- I know Ken hated this film, Robert Altman and Charles Sturridge.  I really didn't like Jarman's piece.

Ken's section is easily the best
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0RlNqHW_zg

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Hell on Earth :
« Reply #4 on: March 09, 2015, 09:48:50 PM »
Part V

18. And finally we meet the film critic who is best known, not for any of his reviews he might have written, but, because in a panel discussion of Ken's "The Devils," Ken hit the man over the head with a rolled up newspaper.

19. If I had been there, I might have hit the man over the head, too. As he comes across as one of those film critics who seem to have an innate sense of superiority, as if stating: "I know it all. You know not."

20. Ken has stated the man "lied" twice about the film. I do not know what 1 of the lies was, but I do know the other, which is that there is a scene in the film in which Oliver Reed's character gets his nuts cracked in a nutcracker, which scene does not exist in the film.

21. But, that the man did see what was not there, does speak to Ken's power as a filmmaker.

22. We also watch in this part, Ken watching, with his friends, in his home in Hampshire, "The Rape of Christ" scene from his film "The Devils."

23. Never say that Ken never did any scenes of full frontal male nudity. There is one here, and there is another in "Salome's Last Dance."

24. Other than that bit of trivia, I really don't know what to make of that scene.

Next time: to be continued and concluded with Part VI.

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Hell on Earth :
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2015, 08:53:58 PM »
Part IV

14. In the land of Ken's films, the semi-clad or even the fully clad woman is often more erotic than the woman nude. The one exception (IMHO) is "The Rainbow." Maybe, because there is such a lesbian vibe to the film.

15. Ken Russell and his problems with the Censor Board.

16. This is not the first time that Ken had problems with the Board. He also had them with "The Music Lovers," especially the scene where Glenda Jackson's character gets "groped" by one of the asylum's inmates. Groping would be bad enough, but I remember that scene as the character receiving cunnilingus from the asylum's inmates.

17. Certainly, this film is one of Ken's greatest, but, certainly, even he must have been aware of how non-commercial the film was.

Next time: to be continued with Part V.

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Re: Hell on Earth :
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2015, 11:05:36 PM »
Part III

09. Previously, I pointed out the similarity between Ken and Walt and then forgot to include an example of their similarity. Example: they both fell in love with England's Lake District at 1st sight.

10. Big. Aggressive. Bellicose. Truculent. And able to go through anything for their art. The description fits both Ken and Oliver Reed, which is why they worked so well together.

11. Moments of hilarity is a hallmark of Ken's films. Even in "The Devils."

12. One can argue whether "The Devils" or "Women in Love" is Ken's best film, but there is no doubt, that "The Devils is the most disturbing of Ken's films. Even the film clips in this documentary about the film are disturbing.

13. What "The Devils" is not is erotic. Even with the scenes of naked nuns, it is one of the least erotic films made by Ken.

Next time: to be continued with Part IV

Offline BoyScoutKevin

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Hell on Earth :
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2015, 10:47:05 PM »
the Desecration and Resurrection of the Devils

01. From 2004 or some 33 years after the film was first seen.

02. For some reason, one needs an account with YouTube to access the 1st part of this documentary, which I do not have, so this will start with the 2nd part.

03. A lot of credit for the success of the film is given to the working relationship between Ken Russell and Derek Jarman. Thus, it is sad that they would work together only twice more: "Savage Messiah" and "Aria."

04. Georgina Hale has some real funny stories about working with Oliver Reed for the first time in the film.

05. One of the surprising things that comes out with the interviews with the people involved in making the film is, that normally when you make a film, you only know what you have, when the film is finished, but here, they knew what they had, often when they first saw the script for the film.

06. Ken may have been a difficult director for some actors to work with, but it is pointed out here, and it does show up in his other films, for example: the boy scout or scout in "Lair of the White Worm, the humanity that Ken shows for the characters in his films.

07. It is also pointed out in the interviews his shyness, which is probably why he made the films that he did, as a counteract to his shyness.

08. Since we have talked previously about the similarities between Ken Russell and Walt Disney, I did notice one difference between the two. Here the film was made first, and then afterwards the music was added to match the film. Walt Disney worked the opposite way. First came the music for an animated film, then the animation was added to match the music.

Next time: Part III, (hopefully.)