Every movie forum needs a Ken Russell thread...

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

A friend of mine told me a great story about Ken Russell but, as much as I'm tempted to, I really don't feel comfortable sharing it online...

All I feel like saying at the moment is that THE DEVILS is fuggin' profound. Exactly how profound it is seems to grow with each year I spend on this planet.

[Randy G Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Randy G]

Vanessa Redgrave's performance in THE DEVILS is for the ages.

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

I assume it'll be the same cut that streamed on FilmStruck.

It's the 108-109 minute version, so it looks like it.

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

I recently found out that one of Ken Russell's favorite movies was Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. This is awesome.

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

I recently found out that one of Ken Russell's favorite movies was Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. This is awesome.

That's pretty random hahaha.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

The BFI are releasing Gothic, here's the press release.

GOTHIC
A film by Ken Russell
Starring Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson, Myriam Cyr, Timothy Spall

BFI Blu-ray release on 18 September 2023

Directed by cult favourite Ken Russell (The Devils) in 1987 and starring Gabriel Byrne (Hereditary), Julian Sands (A Room With a View), Natasha Richardson (The Comfort of Strangers) and Timothy Spall (Mr Turner), GOTHIC delves into the erotic and terrifying night on the shores of Lake Geneva that ultimately gave birth to Mary Shelley’s classic horror story Frankenstein. On 11 September it comes to Blu-ray for the first time in the UK, released by the BFI with extras including a feature commentary, new interview with screenwriter Stephen Volk, an interview from 2017 with the late Julian Sands, and Russell’s last feature film The Fall of the Louse of Usher (2002).

As a wild storm rages over Lord Byron’s literary house party, the poet suggests that his famous guests concoct a ghost story. But after deciding a séance would liven up the evening, they soon conjure up their deepest fears and are plunged into a surreal horror. Is it merely the power of their own intense lust and vivid imaginations that is tormenting them or have they, in fact, raised the dead?

Special features
• Presented in High Definition
• Feature commentary by film historian Matthew Melia and Lisi Russell (2018)
• The Fall of the Louse of Usher (2002, 83 mins): Ken Russell returns to gothic themes in this legendarily lurid late video work starring both the director and his wife, Lisi Russell
• A Haunted Evening (2023, 35 mins): Stephen Volk, the writer of Gothic, revisits his earliest feature script
• The Soul of Shelley With Julian Sands (2017, 18 mins): the actor reflects upon the making of Gothic
• Amelia and the Angel (1958, 27 mins): in this charming early Russell short, a young girl, cast as an angel in the school play, is distraught when her brother damages her treasured wings. Pocket money in hand, Amelia traverses London on the hunt for a new pair in time for the play
• The Guardian Lecture: Ken Russell in conversation with Derek Malcolm (1987, 88 mins, audio only): the director reflects upon his career up to the release of Gothic
• Original trailer
• ***First pressing only*** illustrated booklet with new essays by Ellen Cheshire, Jon Dear and Matthew Melia, film credits and notes on the special features

Product details
RRP: £19.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1496 / 18
USA, UK / 1987 / colour / 88 minutes / English language with optional descriptive subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.85:1 // BD50: 1080p, 24fps, LPCM 1.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

Pre-order now from the BFI Shop: https://shop.bfi.org.uk/pre-order-gothic-blu-ray.html

BFI Blu-ray/DVD releases can be ordered from home entertainment online retailers or from the BFI Shop at https://shop.bfi.org.uk/

[Randy G Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Randy G]

Gothic is damn fun.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Bunch of Russell films hitting The Criterion Channel.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

BFI are releasing The Music Lovers on Blu-ray on 6/17/24.

https://shop.bfi.org.uk/the-music-lovers-blu-ray.html

Guided throughout by the swells and dips of Tchaikovsky’s music, Ken Russell’s The Music Lovers examines the tragedies of Tchaikovsky’s life through opulent and fantastic musical sequences running alongside a narrative of the composer’s life between 1875 and 1881. Touching on his disastrous marriage with Antonina Miliukova, his relationship with his patroness Nadezhda von Meck, and his repressed homosexuality, The Music Lovers is anchored by magnetic central performances from Glenda Jackson following her Academy Award for Women in Love, coupled with Richard Chamberlain as a neurotic Tchaikovsky.

Forming part of Ken Russell’s collection of experimental composer biopics, The Music Lovers features plenty of his signature provocation and excess, but ultimately takes a sympathetic lens to Tchaikovsky’s life in a repressive Russian society.

Presented in High Definition
Newly recorded audio commentary by film historian Matthew Melia
Interview with Alexander Verney-Elliott (2024): Ken Russell's son looks back upon his father's work, and remembers his own appearance in The Music Lovers
Charlotte Bronte Enters the Big Brother House (2007, 16 mins): Ken Russell staged, directed and filmed this 'Radical Bronte' ballet for young people, illustrating Jane Eyre
The Guardian Interview: Melvyn Bragg (1988, c76mins): Ten years after the inception of The Southbank Show, Melvyn Bragg discusses his career in television and film writer Ronald Harwood, at the National Film Theatre in London.
Galina Ulanova in "Swan Lake" (1940, 6 mins): one of the greatest ballerinas of all time is seen performing a dance from Swan Lake. As this rare footage is silent, for best results, watch it as you listen to your favourite recording of the Adagio from Act 2
USSR Today: Edited highlights from three editions of the Soviet newsreel, gathering items about Tchaikovsky and Russian musical arts.
Original trailer
**FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Matthew Melia, a new essay by Caroline Langhorst and contributions from Alexander Verney-Elliott and Lisi Russell