Film critic Mark Kermode knew Ken Russell for 20 years. Here, he recalls the passion and generosity of the "illustrious maestro", one of the giants of British cinema
I was standing in Mothercare in Southampton when my mobile phone rang and a familiar voice came on the line. It was Tim, an archivist from Warners whom I had been pestering for years about trying to track down some long-lost film footage. "I've got the tin you were asking for," said Tim, with an edge of excitement in his voice. "I'm not sure what's on it, because when I opened it, it smelt of vinegar, so I've sent it to be treated. But I had a quick look at the first couple of frames and from what I could see there was a bunch of naked nuns and a bloody massive crucifix…" "I'll call you straight back," I said, hastily hung up...
I was standing in Mothercare in Southampton when my mobile phone rang and a familiar voice came on the line. It was Tim, an archivist from Warners whom I had been pestering for years about trying to track down some long-lost film footage. "I've got the tin you were asking for," said Tim, with an edge of excitement in his voice. "I'm not sure what's on it, because when I opened it, it smelt of vinegar, so I've sent it to be treated. But I had a quick look at the first couple of frames and from what I could see there was a bunch of naked nuns and a bloody massive crucifix…" "I'll call you straight back," I said, hastily hung up...
- 12/4/2011
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Ken Russell, the British director best known for films such as "Women in Love" and "Tommy," has died. He was 84.
Russell died in a hospital on Sunday following a series of strokes, his son Alex Verney-Elliott said Monday. "My father died peacefully," Verney-Elliott said. "He died with a smile on his face," reports USA Today.
Russell, who began his career with the BBC, was a daring and often misunderstood visionary. One of his biggest hits...
Russell died in a hospital on Sunday following a series of strokes, his son Alex Verney-Elliott said Monday. "My father died peacefully," Verney-Elliott said. "He died with a smile on his face," reports USA Today.
Russell, who began his career with the BBC, was a daring and often misunderstood visionary. One of his biggest hits...
- 11/28/2011
- Extra
Ken Russell, who has died aged 84, was so often called rude names – the wild man of British cinema, the apostle of excess, the oldest angry young man in the business – that he gave up denying it all quite early in his career. Indeed, he often seemed to court the very publicity that emphasised only the crudest assessment of his work. He gave the impression that he cared not a damn. Those who knew him better, however, knew that he did. Underneath all the showbiz bluster, he was an old softie. Or, perhaps as accurately, a talented boy who never quite grew up.
It has, of course, to be said that he was capable of almost any enormity in the careless rapture he brought to making his films. He could be dreadfully cruel to his undoubted talent,...
It has, of course, to be said that he was capable of almost any enormity in the careless rapture he brought to making his films. He could be dreadfully cruel to his undoubted talent,...
- 11/28/2011
- by Derek Malcolm
- The Guardian - Film News
London — Ken Russell, an iconoclastic British director whose daring films blended music, sex and violence in a potent brew seemingly drawn straight from his subconscious, has died at age 84.
Russell died in a hospital on Sunday following a series of strokes, his son Alex Verney-Elliott said Monday.
"My father died peacefully," Verney-Elliott said. "He died with a smile on his face."
Russell was a fiercely original director whose vision occasionally brought mainstream success, but often tested the patience of audiences and critics. He had one of his biggest hits in 1969 with "Women in Love," based on the book by D.H. Lawrence, which earned Academy Award nominations for the director and for writer Larry Kramer, and a "Best Actress" Oscar for the star, Glenda Jackson.
It included one of the decade's most famous scenes – a nude wrestling bout between Alan Bates and Oliver Reed.
Reed said at the time that the...
Russell died in a hospital on Sunday following a series of strokes, his son Alex Verney-Elliott said Monday.
"My father died peacefully," Verney-Elliott said. "He died with a smile on his face."
Russell was a fiercely original director whose vision occasionally brought mainstream success, but often tested the patience of audiences and critics. He had one of his biggest hits in 1969 with "Women in Love," based on the book by D.H. Lawrence, which earned Academy Award nominations for the director and for writer Larry Kramer, and a "Best Actress" Oscar for the star, Glenda Jackson.
It included one of the decade's most famous scenes – a nude wrestling bout between Alan Bates and Oliver Reed.
Reed said at the time that the...
- 11/28/2011
- by AP
- Huffington Post
It's been 40 years since Southampton boy Ken Russell filmed his notorious The Devils. Stuart Jeffries asks him about saints, sinners and the most frightening film he ever saw
Ken Russell is leaning on his stick outside the Pebble Beach restaurant in Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire, while his fourth wife parks the car. "Thanks for recognising me," he says as I shake his hand. It would be hard not to. Russell is wearing open-toed sandals, red trousers pulled up so far over his waist they're bearing down on his nipples and stripy shirt, while his big florid face is topped by a rage of grey hair.
But today Russell, now 84, has the air of a last-act Lear, or Tigger unbounced. Two weeks ago he suffered a stroke; this is only his second outing from the New Forest hospital where he's been recuperating. After greeting me, he looks rheumily out into the middle distance,...
Ken Russell is leaning on his stick outside the Pebble Beach restaurant in Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire, while his fourth wife parks the car. "Thanks for recognising me," he says as I shake his hand. It would be hard not to. Russell is wearing open-toed sandals, red trousers pulled up so far over his waist they're bearing down on his nipples and stripy shirt, while his big florid face is topped by a rage of grey hair.
But today Russell, now 84, has the air of a last-act Lear, or Tigger unbounced. Two weeks ago he suffered a stroke; this is only his second outing from the New Forest hospital where he's been recuperating. After greeting me, he looks rheumily out into the middle distance,...
- 4/28/2011
- by Stuart Jeffries
- The Guardian - Film News
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