Savage Messiah: Ken Russell > Savage Messiah: Ken Russell
35th Anniversary Screening of Tommy in Beverly Hills -- Ken Russell in Person
BoyScoutKevin:
--- Quote from: tornhill on August 29, 2010, 08:36:32 PM ---I'm sorry but the questions Ken was about to give an answer to were dumb from start to finish. So it's no surprise that he was in such a "pissed off" mood.
--- End quote ---
I agree to a certain extent, but then does not that behoove us to come up with our own list of questions, which are not "dumb," and which he has not been asked before, which we can then ask Ken.
Iain Fisher:
I see what you mean but I still have sympathy for the interviewer.
The Devils question was good- the first part to tell the audience about the Huxley connection (which many would not know) and the second to dig deeper. But he didn't get a chance to develop the questions more.
tornhill:
I'm sorry but the questions Ken was about to give an answer to were dumb from start to finish. So it's no surprise that he was in such a "pissed off" mood.
Iain Fisher:
More on Ken giving disappointing interviews.
Philip Brown interviews Ken Russell at Rue Morgue’s Festival Of Fear:
www.eyeweekly.com/film/interview/article/100206--ken-russell-a-devil-of-an-interview
For example:
"Right… so what was it like working with Oliver Reed during his wild-man days?
He was as good as gold really.
How about off the set? Any humorous memories?
(Dismissive grunt) No.
All right. What did you base The Devils on and what drew you to the material?
It was so long ago that I can’t remember now.
How did you convince Warner Brothers to finance it at the time?
I told them the story and they gave me the money.
Do you consider it a horror movie?
No.
What do you think it is then?
It’s a true story"
Rosebud:
I have mixed feelings about the Q & A.
Ken's behavior was definitely perplexing. The screening itself was fantastic. "Tommy" never looked and sounded so good. And the entire audience appeared to love the film too. Just seeing Ken in person was a real treat. I really wanted to go up to the Enfant Terrible and thank him for making so many great films, but the theater's security kept everyone at arm's length. After the film ended, Ken received a standing ovation as he was escorted up to the front of the theater for the Q & A. Physically Ken was very frail, which didn't surprise me too much since I've seen many recent videos of him on-line. Once he sat down things got weird. I think the best way to describe the interview, would be like an Abbott and Costello routine. Basically Ken would coyly dodge every question he was asked by the interviewer. For example:
Interviewer: "Did you storyboard the film."
Ken: "Storyboard?"
Interviewer: “You know. Did you draw out the scenes in advance?"
Ken: “What did you mean, draw?”
And it went on like that for the entire interview.
And whenever Ken was asked about how it was like working with a particular performer, he claimed he never talked to anyone. For me Ken's behavior started off very funny, but towards the end I really wanted him to switch gears and answer some questions. Disappointedly, I never had a chance to ask him BoyScoutKevin's question. I feel a lot of people sitting around me believed Ken's lack of clarity was due to old age. I believe he was fully aware of what he was doing. Ken did get some genuine (though somewhat uncomfortable) laughs from the audience. For example, when one of the ushers was using hand motions to let the interviewer know that it was time to wrap up the interview, Ken responded by saying something like, "That boy is doing something obscene right in front of us." I did feel bad for the interviewer, who asked some very relevant questions to no avail. His frustration was really showing at the end of the Q & A. Maybe the strangest part of the interview was at the end when the defeated interviewer asked Ken if he wanted to hit him over the head with his cane. Subsequently Ken playfully began raising his cane, but before it got dangerously high he dropped it. I'm curious what other people who were there felt.
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