Altered States (Full film)
(Source: jesciexvegan)
Ken Russell
Kathleen Turner talks Crimes Of Passion ➔
Crimes Of Passion (1984)—“Joanna Crane/China Blue”
KT: Well, Ken Russell, honey. I mean, Ken Russell, he was a genius. Ken called me a few months ago because he wanted to shoot Alice In Wonderland, and he wanted me for the Red Queen. And we were talking about it just before he died. That was a real shocker. I understand they’re going to go ahead with the film, but for me, the point was Ken. Just to work with Ken. He was absolutely certifiable, the man. But, in truth, a genius.
AVC: That was a very sexual film.
KT: I think that was some of my best work, honestly. That he really challenged me.
AVC: What was it like to be directed by Ken Russell?
KT: Confusing, at times. He drank a lot. He drank from early in the morning on, so as the day progressed, you’d have different levels of comprehensive ability, in terms of what he wanted from his direction. So you kind of had to take that into account, but at the same time, his passions were so contagious, he made you risk more than you normally might with someone else.
AVC: Your leading man in that movie was Anthony Perkins—
KT: Whoa, that was tough. I can say this, because it was all public. He was doing this stuff—I believe it was a form of nitrate that was a step down from amyl. So we’d rehearse, and then just before Ken would roll camera, Anthony would pull out this little bottle and sniff it, and he’d go all red and break into a sweat and you go, “I don’t know what’s going to happen now.” So that was kind of scary at times.
AVC: That’s reflected in the film.
KT: That was really tough. When I came home from that film, my fiancé at that time picked me up from the airport and took me out to our country place, and he told me I slept 22 hours. He said if I got to 24, he was going to take me to the hospital. That was hard.
The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
(Source: lightsleepr)
Director Ken Russell and cinematographer David Watkin on the set of The Boy Friend, 1971.
(via whenwewerecool)
Ken Russell directs Twiggy in The Boy Friend, 1971.
(via whenwewerecool)
![kaffeinebuzz:
Ken Russell, Director Fond of Provocation, Dies at 84
While most may know this controversial director for the 70s cult classic, “Tommy,” his repertoire reaches far beyond the land of the Pinball Wizard. I found many of his films on Netflix, including one of my favorite William Hurt movies, “Altered States” (1980) and another starring Michael Caine, “Billion Dollar Brain.”
[NY Times]
“Ken Russell, the English filmmaker and writer whose outsize personality matched the confrontational brashness of his movies, among them ‘Women in Love’ and ‘The Devils,’ died on Sunday at his home in Lymington, England. He was 84.
Mr. Russell’s feature-film career began with a couple of lightweight genre assignments, the romantic comedy “French Dressing” (1964) and ‘Billion Dollar Brain’ (1967), a spy movie with Michael Caine. But it took off with “Women in Love,” a sensuous period piece that connected with the liberated sexual politics of the late ’60s. Although the film was generally well reviewed and a mainstream success — it earned Mr. Russell his one Academy Award nomination for best director and Glenda Jackson an Oscar for best actress — it was also the first glimpse of his flair for provocation.
‘Women in Love’ became infamous for an extended wrestling scene between the two male stars, Oliver Reed and Alan Bates, that showed full-frontal nudity. It made it past the British censorship board only after Mr. Russell agreed to trim a few shots, though nudity remained.”
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Ken Russell, Director Fond of Provocation, Dies at 84
While most may know this controversial director for the 70s cult classic, “Tommy,” his repertoire reaches far beyond the land of the Pinball Wizard. I found many of his films on Netflix, including one of my favorite William Hurt movies, “Altered States” (1980) and another starring Michael Caine, “Billion Dollar Brain.”
[NY Times]
“Ken Russell, the English filmmaker and writer whose outsize personality matched the confrontational brashness of his movies, among them ‘Women in Love’ and ‘The Devils,’ died on Sunday at his home in Lymington, England. He was 84.
Mr. Russell’s feature-film career began with a couple of lightweight genre assignments, the romantic comedy “French Dressing” (1964) and ‘Billion Dollar Brain’ (1967), a spy movie with Michael Caine. But it took off with “Women in Love,” a sensuous period piece that connected with the liberated sexual politics of the late ’60s. Although the film was generally well reviewed and a mainstream success — it earned Mr. Russell his one Academy Award nomination for best director and Glenda Jackson an Oscar for best actress — it was also the first glimpse of his flair for provocation.
‘Women in Love’ became infamous for an extended wrestling scene between the two male stars, Oliver Reed and Alan Bates, that showed full-frontal nudity. It made it past the British censorship board only after Mr. Russell agreed to trim a few shots, though nudity remained.”
"The fig is a very secretive fruit."
The breaking wheel (Dutch: radbraken) in a detail from Pieter BRUEGEL THE ELDER’s The Triumph of Death (1562) and Ken RUSSELL’s The Devils (1971).
When I first read about Ken Russell’s passing, I knew that his friend Mark Kermode would give a moving tribute to the great maestro. And here it is.
“He was capable of being both Vermeer and Benny Hill. With Women in Love – which I still think is one of the greatest British films of all time – he was the former: he had this wonderful, painterly eye. So when I was cast in one of his films - I played Lord Alfred Douglas and John the Baptist in [the 1988 film] Salome’s Last Dance – I went with high expectations. Unfortunately, this was one of his Benny Hill phases. It might well be the worst film he ever made.On my very first day on set, I was handed a leather string and told this was my entire costume. I was only 25, so I didn’t complain. Nor did I complain when the makeup people told me that Ken wanted my entire body painted green. So they spent ages painting me, and then I went out into the freezing-cold lot, and Ken shouted: “Not that green!” All day I went back and forth between makeup and the set, until finally Ken was happy with the colour. By then everyone else had left, so I just put my clothes on and went home, thinking, “God, I’ve got to be back here getting painted green again at 5am.”I saw Ken a few more times after that; at the premiere of Salome, all the cinema ushers were topless. He was both sublime and ridiculous; both qualities lived in him simultaneously.”
Finally having a pint with Ollie again in that big pub in the sky….
Ken Russell R.I.P.
(Source: metalmena, via fuckyeaholliereed)
E’ morto Ken Russell, il regista «scandaloso» di Tommy e L’altra faccia dell’amore
Si è spento a 84 anni il regista britannico Ken Russell. Regista considerato scandaloso per l’alto tasso di provocazione contenuto nei suoi film: dopo il grande successo di «Donne in Amore» nel 1969, tratto dal romanzo di David Herbert Lawrence, per il successivo «I Diavoli» con Vanessa Redgrave e Oliver Reed venne accusato di blasfemia.
Ken Russell
(1927 - 2011)
RIP Ken Russell
He directed Peter in “The Lair of the White Worm” and also directed many other films as well as “Tommy.” He passed away today at the age of 84.
