Gothic (1987)

Ken Russell's film of Stephen Volk's screenplay about the night that inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein (and John Polidori to write The Vampyre but you don't need to worry about that) gets a Blu-ray release from the BFI.

Percy Shelley (Julian Sands) and his new wife Mary (Natasha Richardson) arrive at the Villa Deodati on the shore of Lake Geneva. It's currently being rented by Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne) whose doctor and close personal peculiar friend John Polidori (Timothy Spall) is also present, as well as Clare Clairmont (Myriam Cyr), Mary's stepsister. After dinner, as a storm rages, the five of them hold a seance, the sequel to which is a night filled with madness and strange visions.

Sandwiched in Ken Russell's feature career by CRIMES OF PASSION (1984) and his deal with Vestron which yielded LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM, SALOME'S LAST DANCE (both 1988) and THE RAINBOW (1989), GOTHIC certainly lives up to its name, with as much blood and thunder and 'dark stormy nighting' as its director could wring out of the story. There are a number of arresting visuals, the location is lovely, and the performances are what one might expect from Mr Russell's encouragement. While it's not as gleefully outrageous as CRIMES OF PASSION or as all-round entertaining as LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM, GOTHIC remains a fine example of the UK's enfant terrible doing what he always did best.

Extras on the BFI's disc kick off with a lovely 34 minute interview with Stephen Volk, who talks about the genesis of the project, where he was in his life at the time of writing it, and what it was like to work with Russell. Soul of Shelley is a ported over interview with the late Julian Sands from 2017. Also ported over is the commentary track from Lisi Russell and Matthew Melia. Another audio track is given over to The Guardian Lecture with Ken Russell from 1987 which runs the length of the film and includes audience questions and Russell's entertaining ripostes to them.

Also included are some other Russell works: Amelia and the Angel is a 27 minute black and white short from 1957 about a little girl playing the angel in the school play. THE FALL OF THE LOUSE OF USHER (2002) is Russell's final feature, shot on video and funded by remortgaging his house, at least as far as I can remember from the edition of Melvyn Bragg's The South Bank Show that was dedicated to it back in the day. It's a shame they couldn't have included that as well. USHER is very typical Ken but with the very rough around the edges feel of Jess Franco's later filmed on video efforts. Hardened Ken fans will love it, or at least find it fascinating, but it's not the film to show to someone you want to convert to the cause. Finally, the disc also comes with a booklet featuring new essays and notes on the special features.

Ken Russell's GOTHIC is out on Blu-ray from the BFI on Monday 18th September 2023

Women In Love (1969)

“Masterful Adaptation From a Master of Cinema”

Ken Russell’s third film (after 1963‘s FRENCH DRESSING and 1967’s BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN) but perhaps the first cinema feature film that can be considered truly Ken, gets a restoration Blu-ray release courtesy of the BFI.

England, 1920. The country is still reeling from the effects of the first world war. Two sisters, Gudrun (Glenda Jackson) and Ursula (Jennie Linden) form relationships with Gerald Crich (Oliver Reed) and Rupert Birkin (Alan Bates) respectively. The story charts the course, evolution and interactions of these two very different couples (and four very different people) against two main backdrops: England and the Alps, with a happy ending for one and a not so happy resolution for the other.

Considered by many to be Ken Russell’s best film, I’m going to candidly admit here that I prefer his more flamboyantly unrestrained work in films such as THE DEVILS. WOMEN IN LOVE is Russell on the cusp of the unfettered cinematic career he was about to embark on, and it is likely the restraint he exhibits in adapting D H Lawrence’s source novel (he rewrote quite a bit of producer Larry Kramer’s screenplay) that makes this movie perhaps just that bit more accessible than his later work.

That’s not to say WOMEN IN LOVE isn’t brimming with life. Contrasting with the grimy collieries that Reed’s Gerald will inherit, Russell has Bates’ Birkin celebrating the vitality of the English countryside with a sensuality that borders on Russell being the cinematic equivalent of Welsh writer Arthur Machen. One wonders what the director would have made of The Great God Pan and other stories.

Of course, the success of WOMEN IN LOVE isn’t just because of Ken Russell. The movie boasts a remarkable quartet of performances - subtle, nuanced and pitched just right, and it would be unfair to single out Glenda Jackson even though she was the only one to win an Oscar. All the leads here are arguably at their career best, and there’s sterling work from a supporting cast that includes Eleanor Bron at her most Bohemian, Vladek Sheybal at his most rodent-like, and Michael Gough doing the sensible thing of being quietly understated as the girls’ father.

The BFI’s 4k restoration looks splendid, making the location switches from industrialisation to the English countryside to Switzerland all the more striking, with the Alps glittering with almost painful acuity. Ported over from previous DVD releases are an audio commentary by Russell and another by Larry Kramer. New to this edition is a 49 minute conversation between WOMEN IN LOVE DP Billy Williams and DP Phil Meheux. SECOND BEST is a rare 1972 short film starring Alan Bates that’s a contemporary adaptation of a D H Lawrence story. There’s a lengthy audio interview with Glenda Jackson at the NFT from 1982, as well as a short profile of her from 1971. Finally, there’s a booklet with an excellent essay on the film by Michael Brooke as well as a piece on the costume design in the film and a short Russell bio.

Ken Russell's WOMEN IN LOVE is coming out on UK Blu-ray from the BFI on Monday 22nd August 2016

Ken Russell - The Great Composers (1962, 1965, 1968)

Released in tandem with the BFI’s THE GREAT PASSIONS, here is another three-film set of Ken Russell’s early documentary works, this one focusing on composers and made for the BBC arts series OMNIBUS and MONITOR.

In order of production ELGAR (1962) is first. A 56 minute film that chronicles the life of the composer, with images accompanied by a Huw Wheldon voiceover. Russell manages to make the Malvern Hills of Elgar’s birthplace look stunning in black and white, and there's plenty of music as well. Compared with some of Russell’s later efforts, ELGAR is a more subdued and straightforward piece, but it's also extremely informative and well put together.

THE DEBUSSY FILM (1965) is entirely different. A hugely ambitious, ethereal, reality-bending attempt at presenting the composer and his music, the film stars Oliver Reed as an actor playing Debussy in a film about his life, and Vladek Sheybal as the director of the biopic. THE DEBUSSY FILM veers between the ‘reality’ of the behind-the-scenes activity during the shooting of the film, and scenes from the film itself. It’s easier to watch than describe (often the way with Ken Russell!) and it does make one sad that television seems to have lost this degree of ambitious creativity.

Best of the lot, though, is SONG OF SUMMER (1968). This evoked a keen sense of nostalgia in me, if only for a time when one could happen upon something like this showing on British television in the 1960s and 1970s, with subject matter one might initially feel quite indifferent to, but by the end you'd feel as if you’d just watched the best thing on television that year. 

SONG OF SUMMER is remarkable. It's the story of the last five years in the life of the composer Frederick Delius, blind and paralysed and desperate to write more music. Salvation comes in the form of Eric Fenby (who co-wrote the script with Russell) who travels from his native home of Scarborough to spend his days getting Delius’ music down on paper. Russell is appropriately restrained here, letting the acting shine through. Max Adrian as Delius is terrific (it’s his best ever performance) and SONG OF SUMMER is a tribute to the triumph of genius, persistence and human love and cooperation overcoming the insidious and inevitable processes of disease and decay. I found it extremely affecting, and of all the material presented here, SONG OF SUMMER alone is worth the price of the disc.

            Extras include three minutes of actual Elgar footage from 1931 with him conducting the LSO at the opening of the Abbey Road studios, as well as nine minutes of him at home & at the Three Choirs Festival. There are also Ken Russell commentaries for ELGAR and SONG OF SUMMER, and a new commentary by Kevin Flanagan for THE DEBUSSY FILM. There’s also a ten minute interview with Russell editor Michael Bradsell and a 30 page booklet with new writing on the films, all making this another must-have set from the BFI. Well done, chaps. 

Ken Russell's THE GREAT COMPOSERS is out on a dual format DVD & Blu-ray set from the BFI from 28th March 2016

Ken Russell - The Great Passions (1965 - 1967)

More invaluable stuff from the BFI as they release three examples of Ken Russell’s unique style of documentary film-making from the 1960s in a dual format DVD & Blu-ray set.

The ‘A’ feature here is probably DANTE’S INFERNO (1967), which has nothing to do with Dante Alighieri and everything to do with the life of the pre-Raphaelite poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rosetti. Oliver Reed takes the title role in this 88 minute black and white stylised romp through the important parts of Rossetti’s life. The other pre-Raphaelites get a look in as well, and there are numerous references to their works, as well as plenty of Ken’s creative (and occasionally outrageous) imagery to keep the viewer interested. Like that picture up there. Great, isn't it?

There are two shorter accompanying pieces. ISADORA (1966) runs for 64 minutes and features Vivian Pickles as turn-of-the-century Isadora Duncan, who famously pioneered her own style of dance, her own dance school, and met her untimely death in part due to her love of scarves. As with DANTE there’s plenty to keep the Ken Russell fan interested, with some fabulous locations, decadent imagery (I liked the harpists concealed in a massive box) and a sense of barely-controlled madness to quite a bit of it. 

More frenetic than even the above two is ALWAYS ON SUNDAY (1965), a 45 minute piece on the life of French painter Henri Rousseau. Rousseau didn’t start to paint seriously until he had retired, and his work was initially met with general derision. One imagines Ken must have known how he felt. 

There are a number of extras, including commentary tracks for all three pieces, a 31 minute period documentary of Russell making ISADORA, a new interview with editor Michael Bradsell about working with Russell, and an extra audio track for ISADORA that’s packed with cast and crew interviews. You also get a 30 page booklet with new essays on each of the works presented within. 

              I would say this release might be considered only for Ken Russell completists, but to be honest I learned so much about the subjects of each of the three films that I’d highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about the lives of Rosetti, Duncan and Rousseau. Excellent stuff as always from the BFI. 

Ken Russell's THE GREAT PASSIONS is being released on dual format DVD & Blu-ray by the BFI on Monday 28th March.

Valentino (1977)

“Top quality biopic from our Uncle Ken”

The BFI continues its valuable work of preserving the films of Ken Russell on Blu-ray with the release of his lavish 1977 biopic of the life of silent film star Rudolph Valentino.

Hollywood 1926: following mock newsreel footage we are shown the coffin containing the body of Rudolph Valentino (played by Rudolf Nureyev) in an opening scene that virtually screams ABOMINABLE DR PHIBES with its gorgeous art deco production design. The funeral home is broken into by the hysterical mourners who have been besieging the building. Once order is restored, the important women in his life remember their time with him via flashbacks up to his death.

These include Bianca (Emily Bolton from TENKO and MOONRAKER), June (Felicity Kendal from THE GOOD LIFE & subsequently immortalised in THE YOUNG ONES), deliciously mad Alla Nazimova (Leslie Caron) and Natacha Rambova (Michelle Phillips) who seduces Valentino in a dance of the seven veils that made it onto the poster and lots of the stills used to advertise the film (and the Blu-ray box cover up the top there). Battles with studio bosses, a lucrative contract advertising perfume, and a boxing match with a known heavyweight champion all follow before Valentino’s untimely death from peritonitis and associated complications. 

Ken Russell does a fine job of bringing Valentino’s life story to the screen, managing to remain admirably restrained in some place while going superbly over the top in others (especially the scenes in the funeral home). He’s ably assisted by a fine cast including all of the above plus a cadre of (mainly) character actors, meaning you’ll be spotting the likes of Linda Thorson (THE AVENGERS), Alfred Marks (SCREAM & SCREAM AGAIN), Peter Vaughan (DIE DIE MY DARLING), Dudley Sutton (THE DEVILS) and Anton Diffring (THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH). As I’ve mentioned above, the production and costume design (by Philip Harrison and Shirley Russell respectively) are occasionally  breathtaking, echoing Danilo Donati’s work on Fellini’s CASANOVA from the previous year.

The BFI’s dual format Blu-ray and DVD edition comes with a number of excellent extras, including archival material of Ludovic Kennedy interviewing Nureyev about the film, and a nine minute short of Valentino’s actual funeral from 1926. Derek Malcolm’s Guardian Lecture interview with Ken Russell from 1987 is audio only, but is accompanied by the film so it serves as a second commentary. The commentary proper is by the always excellent Tim Lucas who yet again provides a fact-packed track that saves you having to read a textbook about the movie.

There’s a new interview with Dudley Sutton who discusses working with Russell, and some of his other projects (but sadly not COCKNEYS VS ZOMBIES) in a charming twenty minutes that’s also a delight to listen to. You also get TV spots, trailers, a picture gallery, a short piece where Lynn Seymour remembers Rudolf Nureyev, and a booklet of essays. The entire package is excellent and another highly recommended release from the BFI. 

The BFI are releasing Ken Russell's VALENTINO on dual format DVD & Blu-ray on 29th February 2016