tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post3099468993714648377..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Ken's last danceDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-62436793706671955182011-12-02T17:42:13.166+00:002011-12-02T17:42:13.166+00:00Howard - PMD arranged Sandy Wilson's score - a...Howard - PMD arranged Sandy Wilson's score - and practically composed the nightmare-dream sequence. I have a cassette somewhere recorded off the radio of Rattle and the London Sinfonietta performing it.<br /><br />Never saw the film but always remember the bridal couple at one of my mother's goddaughters' wedding - a very short-lived one - getting a copy of the LP. I must have been about ten and was intrigued by the artwork/film stills. Twiggy (bizarrely paired in the movie with Christopher Gable) spoke with her usual verve and naturalness about Ken on the radio a couple of days ago.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-50711175996711766342011-12-02T17:11:16.016+00:002011-12-02T17:11:16.016+00:00Good to hear from you, Shin-ichi, and looking forw...Good to hear from you, Shin-ichi, and looking forward to seeing you at the Southbank. I hope we can do Delius as proud as the LPO and Jurowski are doing Prokofiev in January. We did have a tremendous BBCSO performance of The Song of the High Hills last season, but not much since.<br /><br />I'm ashamed to say I've never seen the Delius film, which is generally reckoned to be among KR's early masterpieces. Perhaps I can rectify that at the RFH.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-83661983568799850312011-12-02T17:06:19.179+00:002011-12-02T17:06:19.179+00:00The sad news arrived also in Japan. Ken Russell...The sad news arrived also in Japan. Ken Russell's name has been very special for me since I saw his early TV movie "Song of Summer" (BBC, 1968) broadcast in Japan in 1970. Unlike his other extravagant biopics, this film is strictly based on the biographical facts and has genuine touch and serene atmosphere. I love it. <br /><br />I will visit London next January to see its screening at RFH celebrating Frederick Delius' 150th birthday. Of course, I will not miss LPO's Prokofiev Festival!Shin-ichi Numabehttp://numabe.exblog.jp/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-54137313060958711242011-12-02T12:32:51.782+00:002011-12-02T12:32:51.782+00:00I haven't seen Lisztomania so can't commen...I haven't seen Lisztomania so can't comment on it but presenting Liszt as the equivalent of an OTT modern rock star seemed a valid statement to make at the time.<br /><br />The horrid Devils has horrid music by horrid Maxwell Davies as well. Essential viewing imho, even if from behind the sofa at times.<br /><br />Sir Max also did the music for The Boyfriend (!)Howard Lanenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-70405602358901184112011-12-02T09:15:31.718+00:002011-12-02T09:15:31.718+00:00Glenda's good as unfortunate Antonina Milyukov...Glenda's good as unfortunate Antonina Milyukova, and in other films, though oddly I've found her rather hammy in later stage appearances (before she became an amazingly ineffective MP).Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-30358489143507632042011-12-02T03:14:06.914+00:002011-12-02T03:14:06.914+00:00I enjoyed not only the post here, but the entire l...I enjoyed not only the post here, but the entire lively exchange--even though I think the only film I've seen of Ken Russell's is Women in Love, of which I remember not so much, which I gather is just as well (though I do have a weakness for Glenda Jackson).Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-41542747251655244822011-12-01T18:03:33.388+00:002011-12-01T18:03:33.388+00:00Oh dear, now you're determined to rake up the ...Oh dear, now you're determined to rake up the worst - and there was I having forgotten all about Lisztomania. Have to hand it to Ken for sheer, what is it, 'thinking outside the box', I mean - Roger Daltrey as the great virtuoso?Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-57271016859689020862011-12-01T17:45:50.350+00:002011-12-01T17:45:50.350+00:00Indeed why let tedious truth get in the way - look...Indeed why let tedious truth get in the way - look at Lisztomania. It is all about excess and suppressed anything. <br />But it is that British belief that bad acting is absolutely fine that I cannot stand. Some of the performances in his films are so dreadful that one is left angry. Though nothing is quite as bad as KR's own performance as the British spook in The Russia House. Truly memorable and astounding in a Madonna kind of way. Every word is pronounced incorrectly so much so that the director decided to cut him out half way through.Henriettanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-34277673711296873082011-12-01T16:44:14.635+00:002011-12-01T16:44:14.635+00:00That's a welcome extra dimension, Henrietta. I...That's a welcome extra dimension, Henrietta. I've not seen China Blue nor (as I wrote) The Devils, but I have read Huxley's The Devils of Loudun which of course is not pointedly horrid but just trying to present the facts and speculate about them. I suppose we should be thankful Ken never directed Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel, though David Freeman more or less replicated the Devils scenario in Act V of his Kirov production...<br /><br />John Bridcut made an interesting comment in the Guardian about the Elgar doc - he points out how burned in our consciousnesses is that image of the horse (or is it pony) ride on the Malvern Hills, but wryly observes that KR must have KNOWN the music Elgar wrote for Powick Asylum was played by staff and not inmates, as he depicts it. He was always, JB implies, looking for the strongest visual image regardless of the boring old truth.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-49289625915730083232011-12-01T16:36:08.403+00:002011-12-01T16:36:08.403+00:00I think KR had undeniable mastery of the camera an...I think KR had undeniable mastery of the camera and had a true British sensibility. He got England in all the weird and wonderful colours. The beauty of the landscape in Women In Love and indeed in Elgar. He got the way us Brits move in a landscape and how in some basic way we are informed by that beauty.<br /><br />What he did not get was narrative progression or learning that less is more. Glenda's exposed ginger pubic hair in Tchaikowski, Glenda and the cows in Women in Love, Mrs Mahler the first driving everyone insane or Norman Bates in China Blue......ahhhhh!<br /><br />The Devils is horrid and cruel and nasty and too long but it had something quite unforgettable about it. Partly due to the glorious sets by Derek Jarman and the horrid Huxley it is based on. But there is a direct line from The Devils to Derek Jarman's own films, Peter Greenaway and even John Boorman. I am not sure that I like those kind of films but it is a British school.<br /><br />I rather enjoyed Elgar when I saw it again a few years back.I saw it as a comparison to John Bridcut's marvellous film on Elgar.Henrietta Fosternoreply@blogger.com