Thursday,
September 27 - Saturday, September 29
Directors
in Focus: Ken Russell
 Ken
Russell is perhaps one of the most prolific British filmmakers
of the 20th century. Beginning in the late 1950s with
his work for the BBC television program Monitor, Russell
eagerly began to reshape the documentary tradition. With
a keen eye and a penchant for flamboyance and eroticism, Russell
gained international acclaim with his feature film adaptation
of DH Lawrence’s Women in Love. Throughout the
70s, he would direct some of the most dazzling and controversial
films of his career, many of which were of the historical biopic
genre.
His
filmic recreations of the lives of various artists and composers
were often chided for their excessiveness, but they helped make
Russell a household name. His 1975 film adaptation of
The Who’s concept album Tommy is still considered
one of the best rock ‘n roll films of all time. While
his later works became a bit more uneven, often lacking the
lavish production values of the 70s, Russell continued to shock
and amaze with films like Crimes of Passion, Gothic
and The Lair of the White Worm. To celebrate
Ken Russell’s 80 th birthday as well as the release of Joseph
Lanza’s Phallic Frenzy: Ken Russell and His Films,
International House takes another look at the life and work
of this legendary filmmaker. Phallic
Frenzy is
available for purchase.
Thursday,
September 27 at 7pm
Women
in Love
dir.
Ken Russell, UK, 1969, 35mm, 131 mins, color
This
acclaimed adaptation of DH Lawrence’s novel charts the sexuality
of two sisters in the 1920s. Featuring a ground-breaking and
infamous nude male wrestling scene, the story negotiates the
ups and downs of love and relationships. The film boasts an
all-star cast including Oliver Reed, Alan Bates and Glenda Jackson.
Friday,
September 28 at 7pm
The
Music Lovers
dir.
Ken Russell, UK, 1970, 35mm, 123 mins, color
Introduced
by Joseph Lanza, reading from his new book, Phallic Frenzy:
Ken Russell and His Films.
A
wild and tragic sensuality pervades this striking and controversial
biographical account of 19 th century Russian composer Piotr
Tchaikovsky (Richard Chamberlain). Ken Russell used Tchaikovsky's
music along with incredible dream sequences to illuminate the
life of this prolific composer who may or may not have had homosexual
feelings and encounters.
Saturday,
September 29 at 7pm
Tommy
dir.
Ken Russell, UK, 1975, 35mm, 111 mins, color
 Tommy
is the greatest rock-visual
extravaganza ever recorded on film. Featuring songs from The
Who and starring frontman Roger Daltrey, Ann-Margret and Oliver
Reed with performances by Tina Turner, Elton John, Eric Clapton
and more, this rock opera is given bold, gothic treatment by
Russell. No other rock musical has ever enjoyed such success.
Joseph
Lanza writes
impressionistic histories and specializes in film and popular
music. He is perhaps best known for Elevator
Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy Listening, and Other
Moodsong, a foray that
Entertainment Weekly
dubbed “one of the
few pop-history books that won’t put you to sleep.” His other
books include Vanilla
Pop: Sweet Sounds from Frankie Avalon to ABBA,
which Publisher’s
Weekly called “surprisingly
flavorful”; Gravity:
Tilted Perspectives on Rocketships, Rollercoasters, Earthquakes,
and Angel Food, described
by The Los Angeles
Times as “brilliant” and “exhilarating”; and Fragile
Geometry: The Films, Philosophy, and Misadventures of Nicolas
Roeg, which the British Film Institute hailed as “by common
consent, the best book” on the subject. With Phallic Frenzy:
Ken Russell and His Films, Lanza again takes on a controversial
filmmaker, with a literary style that approximates the thrill
ride of a Russell film.
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