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Ken Russell themes
Relationships and Sexuality
The marriages are false or forbidden (The Devils, Tommy, The Music Lovers)... ... with possibly only Prisoners of Honor showing a long term faithful marriage, between Dreyfus and his wife. Conversely there are lots of unconsummated relationships, from the happy (Clouds of Glory, Savage Messiah) to the sad (The Music Lovers, Crimes of Passion). Russell seems privately uncomfortable with the subject. It was the only part of the interview I had with him where he felt uncomfortable and stumbled his words: Iain ...chaste
sexuality... comes back a number of times, in Savage Messiah
between Gaudier and his wife, Wordsworth in Clouds of Glory... but his films show a wide tolerance and humanity.
Unconsummated love An early film, French Dressing, includes a boy-girl love story, all very innocent. But even here a small sub-text creeps in has the boy saying to the tom-girl "the carnival is fancy dress- come as a girl". And Fenby in Song of Summer is an innocent both to the attractive maid and the provocative neighbour.
Woman as whore Women are often whores in Russellīs films, with two films tackling the subject head on. But the whores often show compassion, from China Blueīs sadness for her dying client, to Liz (Whore) and her on-camera honesty. These are whores who do not threaten established relationships, whereas Philippe (The Devils) threatens Grandierīs marriage and is seen as corrupt.
Taboo "The whole normal-abnormal thing is so
well, what is normal? What is abnormal?" Russell does not mind breaking taboos. Song of Summer mentioned syphilis, the cause of the paralysis of Delius, in an age when it was unspeakable. And when Oliver Reed and Alan Bates wrestled naked before a fire in Women in Love, Russell brought homo-erotic imagery to mainstream cinema. In The Devils the homosexuality is portrayed as part of the corruption of society, but in The Rainbow the lesbian seduction is portrayed with beauty and gentleness. Salome is lusted after by her father and she uses her sexual power over him. But brother and sister William and Dorothy Wordsworth want nothing other than to be together forever. And in Louse the brother and sister are sexually attracted to each other.
The following films have sexual elements:
Note: homosexuality (including lesbianism) was generaly not accepted by society when most of the films listed above were set. In Lair of the White Worm and Whore this is not the case so neither is actually a taboo. |
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