tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post7604812331715627017..comments2024-02-10T01:22:29.316-08:00Comments on Hugo Stiglitz Makes Movies: Ken Russell: The DevilsKevin J. Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post-8666240383306566272010-12-22T16:14:25.433-08:002010-12-22T16:14:25.433-08:00Everyone:
Thanks for reading and leaving a commen...Everyone:<br /><br />Thanks for reading and leaving a comment. Sorry I've been lazy and haven't been on here to respond. The new post is up covering some of Russell's less than enjoyable films. I hope there's a little more disagreement in the comments section there. I'd love to get the pulse of how everyone feels about Russell when we're not talking about something as (in)famous as THE DEVILS or TOMMY. <br /><br />Speaking of TOMMY, Jamie, my post is almost done. In short: I think it rivals THE DEVILS as Russell's 70's masterpiece.Kevin J. Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post-65577695247665624572010-12-22T16:12:00.561-08:002010-12-22T16:12:00.561-08:00Sam:
Wow. Thanks for the comment.
"I'm...Sam:<br /><br />Wow. Thanks for the comment. <br /><br />"I'm certain Luis Bunuel did as well." <br /><br />Yep, what you say here is true...I should have added him to that short list. Thanks as always for plugging this thing and for continuing to stop by with gracious comments.Kevin J. Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post-12365183936878606312010-12-22T16:10:46.379-08:002010-12-22T16:10:46.379-08:00Troy:
Your piece spurred me on to make mine more ...Troy:<br /><br />Your piece spurred me on to make mine more refined than it originally was. It's a strange film that, now that I look back on it, is actually really funny (this is more clear with more Russell films under my belt). The horror elements are no doubt at the forefront, but I just know that Russell was having a grand old time behind the camera making this one.Kevin J. Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post-87703740822040090702010-12-20T14:45:41.323-08:002010-12-20T14:45:41.323-08:00great job here Kevin (sorry I'm a tad late to ...great job here Kevin (sorry I'm a tad late to the Ken Russell party). I love this film in any version (speaking of did you see the full version with the Rape of Christ sequence? it seems you have by several of the mentions you cite here) and I really can't speak enough about what Jarman brings to the table-- glad you mentioned him a few times above. <br /><br />Watch the Pet Shop Boy's video 'It's a Sin' on youtube, it was done by Jarman and makes for an interesting side by side with this film (hell it should be a bonus feature whenever this film sees real release). <br /><br />Anyway, nice job as usual. Keep it up I adore Russell. Can't wait to read your TOMMY.Jamienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post-29195078397910473742010-12-15T17:13:13.370-08:002010-12-15T17:13:13.370-08:00LOVE The Devils. Ken Russell is god himself.LOVE The Devils. Ken Russell is god himself.Cinema Du Meephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07945241807461396451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post-72735015028908151042010-12-15T15:30:47.187-08:002010-12-15T15:30:47.187-08:00I just want to add that Troy's picture lay-out...I just want to add that Troy's picture lay-out is spectacular and that as an ardent supporter of Russell in the poll that was conducted at HUGO STIGLITZ MAKES MOVIES last month, I am thrilled to be treated to such a fantastic consideration of the director's masterpiece.<br /><br />Maybe, just maybe Warner Brothers is reading this.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post-34493550589648621052010-12-15T15:26:19.774-08:002010-12-15T15:26:19.774-08:00"Make no mistake, despite how obvious it may ..."Make no mistake, despite how obvious it may seem, Russell is criticizing and satirizing not just government and church (and the sometimes-relationship between the two), but he is also taking shots at power and how it corrupts to a point where it can even infect nuns – causing them to turn their backs on everything they know and compromise their morality and covenant to God all in the name of what they think the state wants them to do (which leads them to partaking in one of the weirdest orgies ever filmed)"<br /><br />Guiness World Book of Records-September, 14, 2012:<br /><br />1. Who are the only brothers worldwide who have written a review of Ken Russell's THE DEVILS?<br /><br />2. Film experts have been unable to this day in fact to determine which review is most brilliant, so they have convinced the editots at GWBOR to include both in their movie Hall of Fame archives.<br /><br />The answer to the above questions are Kevin and Troy Olson, two Oregon bloggers, who have tirelessly examined Ken Russell's masterpiece in separate venture; the former as part of a Russell retrospective, and the latter as an entry in a horror poll countdown conducted at an affiliate site.<br /><br /> Kevin, I was enraptured by your astute insights, descriptive writing and stellar appraisal of a film that for me in unquestionably Russell's masterpiece. Yeah I love WOMEN IN LOVE, SAVAGE MESSIAH and to a slightly lesser degree, THE MUSIC LOVERS and MAHLER, but the audacious, indeed ferocious THE DEVILS pushed the envelope for acceptable film fare back in the early 70's, and Russell has never equaled its narrative brilliance and horrific premise again. I had previously read excellent reviews of the film by Marilyn Ferdinand and my WitD colleague Allan Fish, and they helped to inspire me to attend "Russellmania" during the past summer at the Walter Reade Theatre in Lincoln Center, where THE DEVILS was shown during the late afternoon mid-week in a gorgeous, nearly pristine print. Two major disappointments loomed however when Russell balked at making a personal appearance at the theatre (Marilyn has speculated at age 83 it wasn't easy to get around) depriving me and the nearly sold-out audience of posing some question in the planned Q & A. In any case an even greater letdown was revealed during teh screening, when the famed "Rape of Christ" sequence wasn't included, despite vows to the contrary. That controversial scene is what always caused Russell and Warner Brothers much grief over the years, and to this day (I read your own lament here as well Kevin) the cautious brass have refused to release any print of the film on DVD. Booties abound of course, but without a legitimate print, fans will forever be stung by its dubious misrepresentation. The film is riveting, haunting, disturbing, frightening, revulsive and jolting all at once, and you have tendered an exquisite consideration of it's satirical underpinnings, and of the church's hypocricy in the superb paragraph above and in subsequent discussion. Yeah, it's definitely a film John Waters would appreciate, and I'm certain Luis Bunuel did as well.<br /><br />The failure of the film to appear stinks of the worst kind of artistic censorship that places the leadership at Warners as slaves of the right, fearing repercussions and legal blackmail. It's a damn shame.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post-84171817347113630062010-12-15T09:41:37.630-08:002010-12-15T09:41:37.630-08:00Great stuff, Kevin. My love for this film is obvi...Great stuff, Kevin. My love for this film is obvious from my Horror Countdown review of it, so I'll just point people there for my full comments.<br /><br />One thing I think you nail is this:<br /><br />"Russell's political message (the irony of the title is appropriately blunt and obvious...which is exactly the type of filmmaker that Russell) is is a radical one: trust only in yourself and not in church or state because no matter how much the two will claim they have nothing in common, they are more similar than they care to admit. It's a message that seems apt almost 40 years later."<br /><br />Knowing what I do of Russell in interviews and such, this seems to be a very apt summation of his mindset during the making of this film. You can also take into account that anyone who does have a crisis of conscious (Grandier or Father Mignon at the end of the film) or is obviously pure (Madeleine) are eventually destroyed, removed from the system, or killed. Is it any wonder why the best and brightest often stay far, far away from politics and religion?Troy Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14843741571724231174noreply@blogger.com