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Last update 26 August 2024 New book: Ken Russell Interviews
"In Ken Russell: Interviews, the filmmaker discusses his colorful life
and career, from his youth fascinated by movies to his early work in
television through his feature films and his retreat to home movies".
The editor is Barry Keith Grant. More details soon.
Updates to Gordon Jacob 
Updates to Gordon Jacob "Given that this was Russell's first composer portrait and that its successors included some of the most memorable television programmes of the 1960s, it's tempting to read too much into Gordon Jacob, but one can certainly see the green shoots of what was to become his first undisputed masterpiece, Elgar (BBC, tx. 11/11/1962) beginning to appear. At the age of thirty-one, after over a decade of considerable uncertainty over his future, Ken Russell had finally found his true vocation" (Michael Brooke, British Film Institute website, no date, click here).
For more on Gordon Jacob click
here.
Update to Whore
Updates to Whore including a thoughtful review by Matthew Surridge, including "The movie works because of how well it balances that grim reality with a playful irony… The pervasive irony in the film is a distancing effect, but it doesn’t blunt the harshness".
For more on the film click here.
Crimes of Passion in Atlanta, USA
The Plaza Theatre in Atlanta is showing Crimes of Passion on 8, 12 and 15 Aug 2024.
For the Plaza Atlanta theatre website click
here Update on Rick Wakeman
Updates from an interview of Rick Wakeman, click
here.
Update to The Planets
Updates to Ken Russell's impressions of Holst's music The Planets including a tribute from cinematographer Mari Yamamura on the Venus section.
For more on the film click here
(bottom of page).
The Death of Alexander Scriabin
Details of Ken Russell's radio play on a meeting between composer Alexander
Scriabin and notorious English mystic Aleister
Crowley. With Oliver Reed, James Wilby and Hetty
Baynes. You can also hear a short extract from the play- click
here
The Music Lovers on Blu-ray
The British Film Institute are releasing The Music Lovers, Ken Russell's film on Tchaikovsky, on Blu-ray with many extras:
It will be released 17 June 2024.
For more on The Music Lovers click
here.
Folk Horror on Film
A new book Folk horror on film edited by Kevin J. Donnelly and Louis Bayman has been issued, and will include Ken Russell's The Lair of the White Worm". "What is folk horror and how culturally significant is it? This collection is the first study to address these questions while considering the special importance of British cinema to the genre's development. The book presents political and aesthetic analyses of folk horror's uncanny landscapes and frightful folk. It places canonical films like Witchfinder General (1968), The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) and The Wicker Man (1973) in a new light and expands the canon to include films like the sci-fi horror Doomwatch (1970-72) and the horror documentary Requiem for a Village (1975) alongside filmmakers Ken Russell and Ben Wheatley". Sounds interesting. It is currently an expensive hardback (£90) but when in paperback I will post more.
For more on The Lair of the White Worm click
here .
Shirley Russell's costumes for The Music Lovers
Shirley Russell's work on costumes for The Music Lovers, with an
informative article by Claire Smith of the British Film Institute.
The Lair of the White Worm on Blu-ray
A Blu-ray of Lair of the White Worm is to be released in the USA on 14 May 2024. Extras include:
For more on The Lair of the White Worm click
here.
Tommy in Macedonia
Tommy is on at the Cinematheque in Macedonia on 29 Feb 2024. For details see the Cinematheque site click here.
For more on Tommy click here.
The Dance of the Seven Veils coming on Blu-ray
The copyright on Richard Strauss' music has expired, so there is no legal obstruction to presenting The Dance of the Seven Veils. The BFI are looking at issuing a Blu-ray. More details when known. Thanks to Alex for the information. YouTube tribute to Ken Russell
A tribute to the visual imagery of Ken Russell's films set to the Sparks song This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both of Us.
The link is
here.
Elton John pinball machine signed by Ken Russell
You can buy an Elton John pinball machine signed by Ken Russell for only £19,900 !!!! "This is a piece of Pinball history. Capt Fantastic pinball was made to celebrate the Tommy film produced by the legendary Ken Russell. The art depicts the Kings Theatre PINBALL WIZARD showdown with Elton John playing his custom pinball in big red boots and glasses. The machine available was used in a Portsmouth Film Festival event where Ken signed his name on the backglass art". The pinball machine is on sale here. For more on Tommy click here.
Gothic on Blu-ray
The British Film Institute (BFI) have issued Gothic on Blu-ray. It has tons of extras including two extra films:
Georgina Hale passes away
Sadly Georgina Hale has passed away. For me her most memorable performance were in Maher (wife Alma Mahler) and The Devils (Philippe). More soon.
Ken Russell Book launch and Symposium
A new book Refocus: the Films of Ken Russell, part of ReFocus: The International Directors Series, edited by Matthew Melia. Shoddy Wikipedia article on The Music Lovers To give an example of biased criticism of Ken Russell see the Wikipedia entry. It quotes Time Out New York on The Music Lovers "vulgar, excessive, melodramatic and self-indulgent . . . " (Wikipedia, accessed 3 May 2023, click here).
The "..." cuts out some words. The original reads "vulgar, excessive, melodramatic and self-indulgent: Tchaikovsky's music is indeed all of these things, yet gloriously so, and the same goes for Ken Russell at his freewheeling best" (TJ, Time Out, 10 September 2012, click here). This is shoddy misrepresentation of the review by TJ, of Tchaikovsky and of Ken Russell.
Too late- you missed it Altered States and Lair of the White Worm in Los Angeles
New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles present Altered States and Lair of
the White Worm. They are on 3, 4 Feb 2024.
Whore in New York
The IFC Centre in New York are showing Whore from 19- 27 Jan 2024.
Gothic in Christchurch, UK
Dirt In The Gate Movies present Gothic in the Regent in Christchurch,
UK. It is on 20 Jan 2024. Ken Russell season on the Criterion Channel
In Jan 2024 the Criterion Channel present Ken Russell's Shocking Rhapsodies, showing ten of his films.
"Passionate, transgressive, over-the-top, and unforgettable: the films
of British iconoclast Ken Russell have rarely been surpassed in their
feverish visual imagination and sheer audaciousness. Courting
controversy after controversy with provocations like The Devils,
Mahler, and Altered States, Russell explored the extremes of
sexuality, violence, religion, and creativity through elaborate, often
eye-popping mise-en-scène and performances of hysterical excess. The
result is a cinema that still feels daring and fresh, with unbridled
romanticism and surreal flights of fancy woven into his
boundary-pushing narratives. The link to Criterion is here. Click here for the news archive |
