Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011)[2][3] was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films were mainly liberal adaptations of existing texts, or biographies, notably of composers of the Romantic era. Russell began directing for the BBC, where he made creative adaptations of composers' lives which were unusual for the time. He also directed many feature films independently and for studios.
Film critic Mark Kermode, speaking in 2006, and attempting to sum up the director's achievement, called Russell "somebody who proved that British cinema didn't have to be about kitchen-sink realism—it could be every bit as flamboyant as Fellini. Later in his life he turned to making low-budget experimental films such as The Lion's Mouth and Revenge of the Elephant Man, and they are as edgy and 'out there' as ever".[5]
Early life
Russell was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England, on 3 July 1927,[6] the elder of two sons[7] of Ethel (née Smith) and Henry Russell, a shoeshop owner.[8] His father was distant and took out his rage on his family, so Russell spent much of his time at the cinema with his mother, who was mentally ill.[7] He cited the films Die Nibelungen and The Secret of the Loch as two early influences.[9]
In 1954 Russell started work as a local-interest freelance photographer. His series of documentary 'Teddy Girl' photographs were published in Picture Post magazine in June 1955, and he continued to work as a freelance documentary photographer until 1959.[11]
During this time, he started directing short films: Peepshow (1956), Knights on Bikes (1956), and Lourdes (1959). He received a lot of acclaim for his short Amelia and the Angel (1959), which helped secure him a job at the BBC.
Television
Documentaries
Between 1959 and 1970, Russell directed arts documentaries for Monitor and Omnibus.
He made Poet's London (1959, about John Betjeman), Portrait of a Goon (1959, about Spike Milligan), Gordon Jacob (1959), The Guitar Craze (1959), Variations on a Mechanical Theme (1959), Scottish Painters (1959), Marie Rambert Remembers (1960), The Strange World of Hieronymus Bosch (1960), The Miners' Picnic (1960), Architecture of Entertainment (1960), A House in Bayswater (1960), Shelagh Delaney's Salford (1960), Cranks at Work (1960, about John Cranko), The Light Fantastic (1960), Journey Into a Lost World (1960), Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt Weill (1961), Old Battersea House (1961), Portrait of a Soviet Composer (1961), London Moods (1961), Antonio Gaudi (1961), Preservation Man (1962), Mr. Chesher's Traction Engines (1962), The Lonely Shore (1962) and Watch the Birdie (1962).[12]
Russell's films began to get longer: Pop Goes the Easel (1962) and the much admired Elgar (1962) about Sir Edward Elgar. Elgar was the first time that a television arts programme (Monitor) was dedicated to one artistic figure, rather than having a magazine format. It was also the first time that re-enactments were used. Russell fought with the BBC over using actors to portray different ages of the same character, instead of the traditional photograph stills and documentary footage.[13]
The film was BAFTA-nominated for the costume designs of Russell's first wife, Shirley; they collaborated throughout the 1970s. The colour schemes of Luciana Arrighi's art direction (also BAFTA-nominated) and Billy William's cinematography, which Russell used for metaphorical effect, are also often referred to by film textbooks.
Russell returned to television with Dance of the Seven Veils (1970) which sought to portray Richard Strauss as a Nazi: one scene in particular showed a Jewish man being tortured while a group of SS men look on in delight, with Strauss's music as the score. The Strauss family was so outraged by the film that they withdrew all music rights. The film was effectively banned from being screened until Strauss's copyright expired in 2019.[19] It was shown in February 2020 at the Keswick Film Festival.[20]
Three films in 1971
He followed Women in Love with a string of innovative adult-themed films which were often as controversial as they were successful. The Music Lovers (1971), a biopic of Tchaikovsky, starred Richard Chamberlain as a flamboyant Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Glenda Jackson as his wife. The score was conducted by André Previn.
He followed it with The Devils (1971), a film so provocative that the production company, Warner Bros., refused to release it, unless cuts were made.[21] Inspired by Aldous Huxley's book The Devils of Loudun and using material from John Whiting's play The Devils, it starred Oliver Reed as a priest who stands in the way of a corrupt church and state. Helped by publicity over the more sensational scenes, featuring sexuality among nuns, the film topped British box office receipts for eight weeks. In the United States, the film, which had already been cut for distribution in Britain, was further edited but never widely released theatrically in anything like its original state; the original, uncut version has only been shown in the U.S. at film festivals and art houses.[22] In 2017, AMC Networks-owned horror film streaming service Shudder premiered the uncut version of the film for the first time on streaming.[23]
British film critic Alexander Walker described the film as "monstrously indecent" in a television confrontation with Russell, leading the director to hit him with a rolled up copy of the Evening Standard, the newspaper for which Walker worked.[24] The uncut version of the film remains censored.
Russell followed The Devils with a reworking of the period musical The Boy Friend (1971), for which he cast the model Twiggy, who won two Golden Globe Awards for her performance: one for Best Actress in a musical comedy, and one for the best newcomer. The film was heavily cut and shorn of two musical numbers for its American release; it was not a big success.
Two months before Tommy was released (in March 1975), Russell started work on Lisztomania (1975), another vehicle for Roger Daltrey, and for the film scoring of progressive rock keyboardist Rick Wakeman.[1] In the film, the music of Franz Liszt is stolen by Richard Wagner. Wagner's operas then put forward the theme of the Superman. Tommy and Lisztomania were important in the rise of improved motion picture sound in the 1970s, as they were among the first films to be released with Dolby-encoded soundtracks. Lisztomania, tagged as "the film that out-Tommys 'Tommy'", topped the British box-office for two weeks in November 1975, when Tommy was still in the list of the week's top five box-office hits.
Russell's next film, the biopic Valentino (1977), starring Rudolf Nureyev as Rudolph Valentino, also topped the British box-office for two weeks, but was not a hit in America. After this he said "nobody in Hollywood would give me even a B movie to direct."[27]
Russell went to Hollywood to make Altered States (1980), a departure in both genre and tone, in that it is Russell's only foray into science fiction. Working from Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay (based upon his novel), Russell used his penchant for elaborate visual effects to translate Chayefsky's hallucinatory story to the cinema, and took the opportunity to add his trademark religious and sexual imagery. The film had an innovative Oscar-nominated score by John Corigliano. The film enjoyed moderate financial success, and scored with critics who had otherwise dismissed Russell's work. Roger Ebert, who had given The Devils "zero stars", and had panned Russell's early composer portraits (he did, however, give three stars to both Tommy and Lisztomania), gave it his highest rating for Russell's work (three-and-a-half stars), praising it as "one hell of a movie!"
Although the film was a financial success, Russell had difficulty making his next film. One project, Beethoven's Secret, was about to start shooting when financing fell apart at the last minute. He was attached to do the film of Evita for over a year, but ultimately left the project when he refused to cast Elaine Paige in the lead. A biopic of Maria Callas with Sophia Loren also failed to get financing. However, Russell found himself artistically rejuvenated when offered the chance to direct some opera. He did The Rake's Progress, Soldiers and Butterfly.[28]
For the Vestron deal, he directed Salome's Last Dance (1988), a loosely adapted esoteric tribute to Oscar Wilde's controversial play Salome, which was banned on the 19th century London stage. The cult movie defines Russell's adult themed romance with the Theatre of The Poor and was also notable for the screen presence of Imogen Millais-Scott as Salome.
In the 1990 film The Russia House, starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer, Russell made one of his first significant acting appearances, portraying Walter, an ambiguously gay British MI6intelligence officer who discomfits his more strait-laced CIA counterparts. Russell thenceforth occasionally acted.
In 1991, Russell directed Whore. It was highly controversial and branded with an NC-17 rating for its sexual content. The MPAA and the theatre chains also refused to release posters or advertise a film called Whore, so for this purpose the film was re-titled If You Can't Say It, Just See It. Russell protested his film being given such a rating when Pretty Woman got an R, on the grounds that his film showed the real hardships of being a prostitute, and the other glorified it.[citation needed]
By the early 1990s, Russell had become a celebrity: his notoriety and persona attracted more attention than his recent work. He became largely reliant on his own finances to continue making films. Much of his work after 1990 was commissioned for television (e.g. his 1993 TV film The Mystery of Dr Martinu), and he contributed regularly to The South Bank Show including documentaries such as Classic Widows about the widows of four leading British composers; dance sections in these were choreographed by Amir Hosseinpour.
In May 1995, he was honoured with a retrospective of his work presented in Hollywood by the American Cinematheque.[36][37] Titled Shock Value, it included some of Russell's most successful and controversial films and also several of his early BBC productions. Russell attended the festival and engaged in lengthy post-screening discussions of each film with audiences and moderator Martin Lewis,[38] who had instigated and curated the retrospective.[39][40]
Efforts such as The Lion's Mouth (2000) and The Fall of the Louse of Usher (2002) have suffered from low production values (for example, being shot on video on Russell's estate, often featuring Russell himself) and limited distribution.
From 2004, Russell was visiting professor at the University of Wales, Newport Film School. One of his many tasks was to advise students on the making of their graduate films. He also presented the Finest Film Awards (for graduate filmmakers of Newport) in June 2005.
Russell was appointed visiting fellow at Southampton Solent University and later at the University of Southampton in April 2007, where he acted in a similar capacity to his role at the Newport Film School, until March 2008. His arrival was celebrated with a screening of the rare director's cut of The Devils hosted by Mark Kermode.
He began production of his first full-length film in almost five years, Moll Flanders, an adaptation of Daniel Defoe's novel, starring Lucinda Rhodes-Flaherty and Barry Humphries, but a finished film failed to materialise.
In 2007, Russell produced A Kitten for Hitler, a short film hosted by the Comedybox.tv website. Russell commented that "Ten years ago, while working on The South Bank Show, Melvyn Bragg and I had a heated discussion on the pros and cons of film censorship. Broadly speaking, Melvyn was against it, while I, much to his surprise, was absolutely for it. He then dared me to write a script that I thought should be banned. I accepted the challenge and a month or so later sent him a short subject entitled A Kitten for Hitler. 'Ken,' he said, 'if ever you make this film and it is shown, you will be lynched.' "[43]
Russell joined the cast of the British reality television show Celebrity Big Brother in January 2007, at the start of the series, but left voluntarily within a week after an altercation with fellow housemate Jade Goody. At the age of 79, he was then the oldest person to be a contestant on the programme.[44][45]
Russell and his wife Elize "Lisi" Tribble were invited by New York film writer Shade Rupe on a six-week journey across North America, beginning with a Lifetime Achievement Award given by Mitch Davis at the Fantasia film festival on 20 July 2010, followed by a screening of Russell's most notorious film, The Devils. The next day, a near complete 35mm print retrospective of Russell's work at the Cinémathèque québécoise including Billion Dollar Brain, Women in Love, The Music Lovers, Crimes of Passion, The Rainbow, Whore, and many more found projection along with an exhibition of several of Russell's photographs from the 1950s. The next stop was Russellmania! at the Lincoln Center, a nine-film overview of Russell's work from Women in Love through Valentino, with Russell present at each evening screening for a nearly sold-out weeklong festival. On 30 July 2010, for the opening night, Russell was joined by Vanessa Redgrave for a 40th anniversary screening of The Devils and the next evening saw The Music Lovers and Women in Love projected with Russell in attendance. Tommy Tune joined Russell the next evening for The Boy Friend and followed the screening with a live stage dance number from the film.
Towards the end of his life, Russell was planning a remake of the 1976 erotic musical comedy Alice in Wonderland.[46]
Personal life
Russell converted to Roman Catholicism during the 1950s; he described The Devils as being the "last nail in the coffin of my Catholic faith."[47][48]
He was married four times. His first marriage, to costume designer Shirley Kingdon from 1958 to 1978, produced four sons and a daughter. He was married to Vivian Jolly from 1984 to 1991 (the wedding celebrant being Anthony Perkins, who had been ordained in the Universal Life Church);[49] the couple had a son and daughter. He was married to the actress and former ballerina Hetty Baynes from 1992 to 1997;[50] the couple had a son. His first three marriages ended in divorce. He married American actress and artist Elize "Lisi" Tribble in 2001, and the marriage lasted until his death.[7]
Death
Ken Russell died on 27 November 2011 at the age of 84, having suffered a series of strokes; he was survived by his wife and eight children. Before his death, he left his entire estate to his wife.[4]
Besides books on film-making and the British film industry, Russell also wrote A British Picture: An Autobiography (1989; published in the US as Altered States: The Autobiography of Ken Russell, 1991). He also published six novels, including four on the sex lives of composers – Beethoven Confidential, Brahms Gets Laid, Elgar: The Erotic Variations, and Delius: A Moment with Venus.
Mike and Gaby's Space Gospel is a science-fiction rewriting of Genesis. His last novel, also science-fiction and published in 2006, is called Violation. It is a very violent future-shock tale of an England where football has become the national religion.
At the time of his death, he had a column for The Times in the Film section of times 2.
Before achieving success in the film industry, Russell was a stills photographer for a period. An exhibition displaying some of Russell's work was on display during the summer of 2007 in central London's Proud Galleries in The Strand, London. The exhibition, entitled Ken Russell's Lost London Rediscovered: 1951–1957, included photos taken in and around London, with many of the pictures being taken in the Portobello Road area of London. An exhibition Ken Russell: Filmmaker, Photographer ran at several galleries in 2010.
Music video
In the late-1980s, Russell directed the music video for "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", a song written and produced by Jim Steinman for his Pandora's Box project. The production featured a range of erotic imagery, including studded bras and spiked codpieces.[51][52] He had also directed Elton John's video for "Nikita" which featured a scene of John wearing the same boots he wore as the Pinball Wizard in the film adaptation of The Who's Tommy.
Cultural references
Light-hearted references to Russell often allude to sexual and religious (frequently Catholic) images in his work.[53]
^ abWardrop, Murray (28 November 2011). "Ken Russell dies aged 84". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
^ abcd"Ken Russell". Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
^"Oliver Burns--at the Stake and at Film Critics" Kramer, Carol. Chicago Tribune 22 August 1971: e3.
^Joseph Lanza Phallic Frenzy: Ken Russell and His Films p.48
^The Eisenstein file: LEE LANGLEY describes Ken Russell's work on the Deighton thriller, "Billion Dollar Brain"
Langley, Lee. The Guardian 26 Oct 1967: 8.
Trauma as Memory in Ken Russell's Mahler, by Eftychia Papanikolaou; chapter in After Mahler's Death, edited by Gerold W. Gruber, Morten Solvik and Jan Vičar, 72–89. Olomouc, Czech Republic: Palacký University, 2013.
