Ken Russell on DVD

[nyasa]

And please, give the man a house! And invite him for more interviews!

I can offer him a room - and it's in Hampshire. Also, I'm a journalist, so I could interview him day in day out till the cows come home.

[MichaelB]

Or until he physically attacks you - after all, he has form.

Heads up - apparently Ken's terminal bust-up is going to be shown on Channel Four between 9pm and 10pm.

[charulata]

Ken frustrated by the lack of progress on The Devils DVD... in an article about censorship here [London Times 8 Feb 2007].

But with The Devils in 1971 Trevelyan [chief censor of BBFC] did a cruel volte face. Masturbating nuns just freaked him out — and he wasn't the only one. I was attacked on all sides, by everyone from film critics to weird religious groups and even by Warner Brothers — the very company that financed the film. Ted Ashley, CEO of the the studio, decreed that every offensive Technicolor pubic hair be cut out of the movie. This was an order! You should have seen the cutting-room floor — it was knee- deep in celluloid. The film was banned everywhere.

Twenty-five years later every pubic hair (and a good deal more) has been stuck back in place. And Warner's promised two years ago to rerelease it on DVD. We are still waiting.

[Lino]

This is indeed exhasperating and I'm dreading that another year will go by and still no sign of any release of some sort will surface.

People say that one of the biggest problems surrounding this impending release is the fact that the film got an "X" when it first came out (even thought it was cut to pieces) and that Warner wants no business with that. Well, I don't buy that for a moment. Visconti's The Damned was also classified with an "X" when it first came out and that didn't stop them to get it out on DVD (it's now an "R"). Why can't the same be made with The Devils? Hell, just slap it with an NC-17! That won't stop people from buying it! And besides, just how many NC-17 movies are this good, anyway? Warner should be proud of it.

Let's all hope that the upcoming chat with Warner will give us some definite answers.

[MichaelB]

People say that one of the biggest problems surrounding this impending release is the fact that the film got an "X" when it first came out (even thought it was cut to pieces) and that Warner wants no business with that. Well, I don't buy that for a moment. Visconti's The Damned was also classified with an "X" when it first came out and that didn't stop them to get it out on DVD (it's now an "R"). Why can't the same be made with The Devils? Hell, just slap it with an NC-17! That won't stop people from buying it! And besides, just how many NC-17 movies are this good, anyway? Warner should be proud of it.

Having been lucky enough to see the restored unexpurgated version (I was in the NFT audience in November 2004), I have to say that it's very unlikely to get an R, especially in the current moral climate. The "rape of Christ" scene alone pushes it well into NC-17 territory, as do quite a few other bits. So if Warner is purely concerned about that issue, they do have a point!

But even if they have a problem with the US release, I don't see any reason why Warner can't release it in Britain - first of all, it's where the film was made in the first place, and secondly, there won't be any censorship or marketing problems. Obviously, it'll get an 18, but there was a BBFC spokesperson on hand in the audience of the NFT screening who confirmed that they wouldn't have any other problems with it - and of course an 18 doesn't have the stigma that an NC-17 does.

[BrianInAtlanta]

From Playbill Arts (09 Apr. 2007)

Ken Russell Publishing Biographical Novels About Sex Lives of Great Composers
By Vivien Schweitzer
09 Apr 2007

It's common knowledge that a number of the great composers contracted syphilis. Ken Russell wants us to know how.

The famously provocative and controversial British filmmaker, who evidently enjoys airing the dirty laundry of legendary artistic icons, has published new books exploring the seedier sides of Brahms, Beethoven, Elgar and (the syphilitic) Delius. In an article in the London Times last week, Russell describes how he explores these composers' salacious desires in four "novel-biographies" (his term) released in two separate volumes: Beethoven (Confidential) & Brahms Gets Laid, and Elgar: The Erotic Variations & Delius: A Moment with Venus.

He writes, "My coverage of the subjects is provocative, but thoroughly researched, even so. Sex-mad? Maybe. Obsessed? With music, yes. [...] Would this be a good place to mention that I am compelled to investigate the places where a powerful life force smashes headlong into cultural taboos and fashions? No? All right, never mind. Read my books under the covers, flashlight at the ready. But if they're not just about the sex lives of these beloved composers, don't say I didn't warn you."

Russell was born in Southampton, England, in 1927. He began his career as a photographer, then became a television director for the BBC, making programs on music, including studies of Delius, Debussy, Elgar and Strauss.

His television films became increasingly flamboyant and outrageous: The Debussy Films (1965), for example, opens with a scene in which a woman is shot full of arrows (a reference to the composer's The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian), while Dance of the Seven Veils (1970) caused such outrage that it prompted a debate in the British Parliament. The Strauss family withdrew all music rights and imposed a ban on the film.

Among his many feature films are The Music Lovers (1970), a biopic of Tchaikovsky with music conducted by André Previn, and Lisztomania (1975), a fantasy about the composer and piano virtuoso starring Roger Daltrey of The Who.

Russell had an extraordinary run of commercial success in the early 1970s, beginning with Women in Love (1969) an adaptation of the D. H. Lawrence novel which garnered Glenda Jackson her first Academy Award. He made a star-studded film version of The Who's rock opera Tommy (1974); his Altered States (1980) featured a score by John Corigliano which was nominated for an Academy Award. Controversy over perceived excesses in his films caused studio work to dry up; his later screen work has either been self-financed or made for and funded by television networks.

Earlier this year, the now-79-year-old Russell briefly participated in the British "reality" television show Celebrity Big Brother.

Russell has also worked as an opera director: his productions include The Rake's Progress in Florence (1982), La Bohème in Macerata (1984), Faust and L'italiana in Algeri in Geneva (1984), and Boito's Mefistofele in Genoa (1987).

His notorious staging of Madama Butterfly at the 1983 Spoleto Festival U.S.A. protrayed Cio-Cio-San as a prostitute in a sleazy brothel under the control of Goro, a pimp. Donal Henahan, reviewing the production for The New York Times, wrote that "Perhaps because he lacked Ken Russell's feverish imagination, Puccini never wrote an opera called The Best Little Whorehouse in Nagasaki."

[Lino]

Tim Lucas gives Russell a loving tribute on his 80th birthday.

Happy belated birthday, Ken!

[skuhn8]

I just caught the Devils at the local art cinema down the street from my flat Sunday. Easily the best Russell I've seen. No slack and what a great performance from Reed. Would love to see this on DVD. Happy B-day Ken, you sick bastard!

[Anonymous]

There's also a tribute to Ken by Linda Ruth Williams in Sight & Sound.

Happy birthday Ken!

[MichaelB]

This is slightly tangential, but those of you who are (a) in or near London and (b) at an extremely loose end next Wednesday (July 11) might be interested in a talk I'm giving in the BFI Southbank Studio about Russell's dazzling work for the BBC in the 1960s.

More details here - and admission is free.

[patrick]

Fox didn't seem to have a problem releasing Beyond The Valley of The Dolls as an NC-17 last year, I don't know why Warner Bros. is so afraid of the rating. Is it because they're afraid it won't sell, or because they don't want their name tied to something that could possibly offend people?

[Lino]

Nah, they're just waiting for George Bush's mandate to end, that's all.

[MichaelB]

Fox didn't seem to have a problem releasing Beyond The Valley of The Dolls as an NC-17 last year, I don't know why Warner Bros. is so afraid of the rating. Is it because they're afraid it won't sell, or because they don't want their name tied to something that could possibly offend people?

I suspect the religious element is a key factor. There's nothing in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls that has more than a fraction of the shock value of the "rape of Christ" sequence, which alone makes an NC-17 a certainty. And Warner Bros has always disliked the film intensely: it was the studio's decision to butcher it for US audiences, not the MPAA's (which slapped an X on the mutilated remains anyway).

[Lino]

I was finally able to watch Lisztomania in its correct aspect ratio of a very tight 2.35 and believe me, do not watch this one in FF ever again! Russell really understood the format and his compositions really show a master in control of his medium. Grand, grand sets and great cinematography by the equally great Peter Suschitzky.

If Warner only knew what they're missing by keeping all his films to themselves... So, when does Bush end his mandate?

[MichaelB]

Hat tip - the BFI disc of Elgar has just gone OOP, so grab it while you can.

[Lino]

Another heads-up: Russell's documentary, In Search Of The English Folk Song , is out on DVD in Germany.

Has anyone seen this? Is it any good?

[Person]

BBC America via Warner will be releasing some of Ken's early BBC films: link

No, Bartok or Elgar, but this is great news.

[colinr0380]

BBC America via Warner will be releasing some of Ken's early BBC films: link

No, Bartok or Elgar, but this is great news.

Amazing news!:

Our collection includes two early films starring Oliver Reed, The Debussy Film and Dante’s Inferno about Dante Gabriel Rossetti, as well as Always on Sunday about Henri Rousseau, Isadora: The Biggest Dancer in the World, A Song of Summer about Frederick Delius, and Dance of the Seven Veils about Richard Strauss.

[foggy eyes]

Dance of the Seven Veils about Richard Strauss.

Wow - I thought the Strauss estate's embargo on this would be insurmountable. The copyright doesn't expire until 2019.

[Person]

Dance of the Seven Veils about Richard Strauss.

Wow - I thought the Strauss estate's embargo on this would be insurmountable. The copyright doesn't expire until 2019.

What bothered the Strauss Estate about the film?

[foggy eyes]

As far as I'm aware, they weren't especially pleased with Russell's scathing portrayal and promptly took out an injunction against the film (which effectively prevented the use of the subject's music on the soundtrack). I'm sure MichaelB or others will be able to offer more information on this.

[Lino]

BBC America via Warner will be releasing some of Ken's early BBC films: link

No, Bartok or Elgar, but this is great news.

Amazing news!:

Our collection includes two early films starring Oliver Reed, The Debussy Film and Dante’s Inferno about Dante Gabriel Rossetti, as well as Always on Sunday about Henri Rousseau, Isadora: The Biggest Dancer in the World, A Song of Summer about Frederick Delius, and Dance of the Seven Veils about Richard Strauss.

Really, really amazing news! This almost makes up for the fact of The Devils being canceled. Almost.

The Debussy movie is fabulous but the biggest treats here are the Isadora and the Strauss ones! Let's only hope they don't take too long to release these.

[MichaelB]

Again MB can confirm but an imdb review jogged my memory of a very unhindered portrayal of Strauss' cosy relationship with Hitler and the Nazis. (As was von Karajan's of course.) Even if the incident the epiosde depicts (a picnic with Hitler) is an imaginative reverie it certainly deserves to be there, all things being equal.

The Strauss estate's problems with the film go well beyond that - here's my Screenonline synopsis! Even if it wasn't for the section showing Strauss in cahoots with the Nazis and turning a blind eye to anti-Semitic atrocities (seeing SS thugs carving a Star of David into an elderly Jewish concertgoer's chest, his response is to urge the orchestra to play louder to drown out the screams), I suspect they'd have issues with the first half, in which Strauss is portrayed as a sex and money-obsessed maniac.

So it's really a case of showing it uncut or not at all - I can't see how editing it would make much difference to the overall tone.

In Europe, it's effectively banned until 2019 - i.e. 70 years after the composer's death - as there's next to no chance of the Strauss estate relenting, and they control not only the music rights but also the dialogue rights, as Russell made sure that everything Strauss uttered was sourced from his own writings (so he damned himself out of his own mouth) - he even cheekily gave Strauss a co-writing credit.

On the other hand, in a country where copyright expires after a shorter term - 50 years, say, or even 60 - then there's no barrier to it being released, provided the performance rights are cleared.

The Debussy movie is fabulous but the biggest treats here are the Isadora and the Strauss ones! Let's only hope they don't take too long to release these.

I'm not about to disagree, but Always on Sunday is a little gem, too - it's a portrait of the Douanier Rousseau in which Russell cast a genuine British naive painter, whose visible awkwardness (he'd never acted before) and strong regional accent were absolutely appropriate for the character.

Its only drawback is that it's in black and white, which does Rousseau's Technicolor dreamscapes no favours. Other than that, it's a treat.

If you want to know more about individual titles, here are my Screenonline pieces on The Debussy Film, Always On Sunday, Isadora, Song of Summer and Dance of the Seven Veils. Plus my overview of Russell's TV work in general - and I can't tell you how glad I am that it's starting to get a proper release! As I said at the start of my main piece, Russell himself ranks his best TV work at least as high as his feature films, and its only its inaccessibility that's prevented its reputation from growing.

[MichaelB]

Everything in the copyright area has changed since I worked as a music producer until 1990 but as I recall the longest rights (100 years in Oz) obtained for vocal works - viz opera, etc , thus the Salome libretto which was first published and performed in 1905 should have come into the "open" at least three years ago.

Or have I got this completely arse about?

I think it varies from country to country - in the EU, creative works expire 70 years after their creator's death (it used to be 50 years in Britain, but was extended in the mid-1990s to harmonise things across Europe - which is why James Joyce and others were temporarily liberated but are now copyrighted again). And Strauss died in 1949, which is why his works won't expire until 2019 - in Europe.

But as this is a US release (the film's original nationality is immaterial), their copyright laws will apply - I don't know what the current position is, but clearly BBC America seems to think that they won't have the problems that they'd have in Europe.

[ellipsis7]

Everything in the copyright area has changed since I worked as a music producer until 1990 but as I recall the longest rights (100 years in Oz) obtained for vocal works - viz opera, etc , thus the Salome libretto which was first published and performed in 1905 should have come into the "open" at least three years ago.

Or have I got this completely arse about?

I think it varies from country to country - in the EU, creative works expire 70 years after their creator's death (it used to be 50 years in Britain, but was extended in the mid-1990s to harmonise things across Europe - which is why James Joyce and others were temporarily liberated but are now copyrighted again). And Strauss died in 1949, which is why his works won't expire until 2019 - in Europe.

But as this is a US release (the film's original nationality is immaterial), their copyright laws will apply - I don't know what the current position is, but clearly BBC America seems to think that they won't have the problems that they'd have in Europe.

Yes Joyce's trustees, meaning mainly the manic grandson Stephen Joyce, had a 'corrected text' of Ulysses published in 1993, as the then 50 year copyright on the original had run out in 1991, but creating a new version somehow put the clock back to zero and back into copyright on that version of the novel which was then deemed the definitive! ... Then the EU extended the limit to 70 years so put everything back in the clink and the consensus on the 'corrected text' wasn't so good anyway...