Monday 28 November 2011

ONE OF A KIND

KEN RUSSELL
1927-2011


Maverick filmmaker Ken Russell has died at 84: a grand age for one who was the enfant terrible of 'sixties cinema.

Maligned, misunderstood and hugely undervalued, Russell was a great director: a man of extraordinary visions – brave, brash, startling, shocking, horrifying and hilarious by turn – he leaves a legacy that is greatly in need of critical reevaluation and public restoration.

Here is an excellent short documentary On Ken Russell by Matthew Supersad.

And here's a piece I wrote on this blog back in 2007 in praise of Mr Russell and the exhibition of photographs he had just staged: Ken's Candid Camera.

Portrait of Ken Russell by Paul Joyce.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't deny that I could never feel quite the same about my beans on toast after seeing "Tommy"! Best wishes. (RGP)

scb said...

There seem to be more and more obituaries for "greats" the like of which we may never see again. Current demand for blockbusters seems to edge out art and exploration in film to far too great a degree.

Thank you for the link to your earlier, excellently enlightening post on Russell. Between my being just a little too young in the sixties for those films, and the predominance of Hollywood in Canadian theatres, I have been unaware of much of his work. I shall have to remedy that.

Dinah said...

Thanks for the post, and the reminder that Russell is long overdue for a re-evaluation. I just re-watched his 'Dante's Inferno' (biopic of Dante Gabriel Rossetti) with the perfectly-cast Oliver Reed, stunning visuals, and messy structure - criticised at the time, but clearly a tribute to the PRB spirit.