Well, I never thought I'd get to see this one!
It’s lineage into The Music Lovers, The Devils, Mahler and Lisztomania is clear (even detecting a few visual devices of Valentino too) and a neat stepping-stone into the cavorting nuns and slam-dunk iconography of the films to come – bliss.
Subtle as a brick, but an effective shredding of a reputation and unusual in that respect for a Russell biopic as his contempt for most aspects of his subject's life and music are critiqued so powerfully.
