Ken Russell was inspired to make his film about composer Gustav Mahler after greatly disliking Death in Venice (1971). In a segment of his autobiography about this film, Russell said that he thought that the other "so-called Mahler film," "Death in Venice," was rubbish. "People think it's about Mahler, all because his music is part of the soundtrack! The director, Luchino Visconti, never said it was about him, though." So he mocked the film in his movie. He had a satirical moment when Mahler looks out of the train and sees his dying lookalike. In Visconti's movie, the young actor playing Tadzio was 15, but in this film, as in Thomas Mann's book, the boy being ogled is only a child.
Ken Russell had hoped to make this film in authentic Austrian locations associated with the life of Gustav Mahler, but the money was not forthcoming. As a result, the entire film was made in England, mostly near Russell's own home in Cumberland. Some outdoor sections of the film were made in Borrowdale, in the English Lake District. Although he had a very difficult relationship with producer David Puttnam, the latter praised his unhesitating pragmatism in accommodating some fairly stringent budget cuts.
The scene of young Gustav Mahler getting caught skipping his music lessons is freely adapted from Isaak Babel's short story "Awakening" (1931), including the mother's line of dialogue, "I don't want blood in this house!"
Though only a minority of theaters were equipped to showcase Mahler (1974), this also marked Ken Russell's first real foray into multi-channel sound, boasting an expansive stereo mix that hasn't always been replicated on home video. His next film,Tommy (1975), with members of The Who as screenwriters and in the cast, presented an advanced sound called "Quintaphonic Sound" which remains a gold standard for audiophiles.
When Gustav Mahler says, "Heaven lies all around us in our infancy," he is imperfectly quoting William Wordsworth, about whom Ken Russell made Clouds of Glory (1978) a few years later.
Oliver Reed: a train conductor blowing a whistle as Gustav Mahler's train is about to pull out of the station.