Ken Russell
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Ken Russell

Directing

Biography

Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was an English film director. He is known for his pioneering work in television and film, and for his controversial style. He has been criticized as being over-obsessed with sexuality and the church. His subject matter is often about famous composers, or based on other works of art which he adapts loosely. Russell began directing for the BBC, where he did creative adaptations of composers' lives which were unusual for the time. He also directed many feature films independently and for studios.

He is best known for his Oscar-winning romantic drama Women in Love (1969), the notoriously controversial The Devils (1971), the rock musical Tommy (1975), and the science fiction film Altered States (1980).

One noted admirer, British film critic Mark Kermode, attempting to sum up the director's achievement, called Russell; "somebody who proved that British cinema didn't have to be about kitchen-sink realism – it could be every bit as flamboyant as Fellini. He now makes very strange experimental films like Lion's Mouth and Revenge of the Elephant Man, and they are as edgy and out there as the work he made in the 1970s."

Films Featuring Ken Russell

Whore

19915.3

Vaughan Williams: A Symphonic Portrait

19846.0

Gothic

19875.7

The Real Blue Nuns

20064.5

Tommy

19756.5

Trapped Ashes

20065.1

Valentino

19775.8

Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World

19665.4

Salome's Last Dance

19886.2

The Real Oliver Reed

2000

The Fall of the Louse of Usher

20025.1

A Kitten for Hitler

20074.7

Hell on Earth: The Desecration & Resurrection of The Devils

20026.4

Music for the Movies: Georges Delerue

19957.0

Boudica Bites Back

Boudica Bites Back

2009

Savage Messiah

19726.3

The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch

19954.8

Revenge of the Elephant Man

Revenge of the Elephant Man

2004

Mr. Nice

20106.1

Lion's Mouth

Lion's Mouth

20009.0

The Who: One Band's Explosive Story

20227.0

Your Honour, I Object! Guccione V Russell

1987

Don’t Shoot the Composer

19668.0

Brothers of the Head

20065.5

Ken Russell's ABC of British Music

198810.0

Director of Devils

2012

A Turnip Head's Guide To The British Cinema

1986

10 Best Elgar

2007

The Russia House

19906.1

Empire of the Censors

Empire of the Censors

19955.3

Ken Russell: A Bit of a Devil

20128.0

Song of Summer

19686.3

Colour Me Kubrick

20055.7

The Lair of the White Worm

19885.9

Walk With The Damned

1961

Russell at Work

Russell at Work

1966

The Secret Life of Arnold Bax

19926.3

The Aristofrogs

2010

A British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant Terrible

19896.5

The Devils Original on-set footage

The Devils Original on-set footage

2012

PuzzleFace

In Search of the English Folk Song

19977.5

The Who: The Kids Are Alright

19797.3

Twiggy

20257.7

Elgar: Fantasy on a Composer on a Bicycle

20027.3

Alice in Russialand

19958.0

100 Greatest Sexy Moments

20033.5

Tales of Erotica

19963.9

Celebrity Naked Ambition

20035.3

Road to Mandalay

Road to Mandalay

1991