Ken Russell
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."
The Russia House
as WalterBarley Scott Blair, a Lisbon-based editor of Russian literature who unexpectedly begins working...
Movie page
The Lair of the White Worm
as Police Radio (voice) (uncredited)On a farm owned by Eve Trent and her sister Mary, young archaeologist Angus Flint discovers a...
Movie page
In Search of Dracula
as SelfA look at "Dracula" in the arts and his supposed real-life inspiration Vlad Tepes.
Movie page
Tommy
as Cripple (uncredited)After a series of traumatic childhood events, a psychosomatically deaf, dumb and blind boy...
Movie page
Whore
as Waiter (uncredited)This melodrama investigates the life of a sex worker, in a pseudo-documentary style.
Movie page
Biopic about 1970s Welsh marijuana trafficker Howard Marks, whose inventive smuggling schemes...
Movie page
Gothic
as TouristLiving on an estate on the shores of Lake Geneva, Lord Byron is visited by Percy and Mary...
Movie page
Colour Me Kubrick
as The Man In NightgownThe true story of a man who posed as director Stanley Kubrick during the production of Kubrick's...
Movie page
Salome's Last Dance
as CappadocianLondon, England, November 5th, 1892, Guy Fawkes Night. The famous playwright Oscar Wilde and his...
Movie page
The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch
as Mr. KirschA writer taking a rest in a country hotel is obsessed with a strange woman in the same hotel....
Movie page
Trapped Ashes
as Dr. LucyTrapped in a house of horror, seven people discover that the only way they'll get out alive is...
Movie page
Twiggy
as (archival footage)Twiggy takes a comprehensive look at the life story of UK model and cultural icon Twiggy, real...
Movie page
Valentino
as Rex Ingram (uncredited)In 1926 the tragic and untimely death of a silent screen actor caused female moviegoers to riot...
Movie page
Savage Messiah
as Passenger getting off train in station (uncredited)In the Paris of the 1910s, brash young sculptor Henri Gaudier begins a creative partnership with...
Movie page
The Real Oliver Reed
as SelfA documentary portrait about the life and times of the infamous hellraiser, who died in May...
Movie page
Ken Russell's ABC of British Music
as HimselfAn irreverent survey of British Music.
Movie page
The Kids Are Alright
as uncreditedThrough concert performances and interviews, this film offers us a comprehensive look at the...
Movie page
Brothers of the Head
as HimselfIn the 1970s a music promoter plucks Siamese twins from obscurity and grooms them into a...
Movie page
Tales of Erotica
as uncreditedA series of erotic short films, all with similar unexpected endings.
Movie page
Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World
as Captain PattersonThe outrageous life of the American dancer of the 1920s, Isadora Duncan, whom Ken Russell...
Movie page
A British Picture
as uncreditedThe updated autobiography of Britain’s most controversial film director, the maker of Women in...
Movie page
Don’t Shoot the Composer
as HimselfDON’T SHOOT THE COMPOSER is far from an ordinary profile of Georges Delerue. It also serves as a...
Movie page
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
as Dr. CalahariRock star Roddy Usher is confined to an insane asylum after murdering his wife. There, he is...
Movie page
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
as Sir Arnold BaxA biopic about the eminent composer Sir Arnold Bax.
Movie page
Your Honour, I Object! Guccione V Russell
as uncreditedA courtroom 'drama' featuring Bob Guccione versus Ken Russell in a breach of contract case...
Movie page
10 Best Elgar
as Self (archive footage)A line up of star performers celebrate the very best of Edward Elgar's music in the 150th...
Movie page
Hell on Earth: The Desecration & Resurrection of The Devils
as SelfHell on Earth is a documentary about Ken Russell's 1971 film, The Devils. Film critic Mark...
Movie page
Ken Russell: In Search of the English Folk Song
as HimselfThis documentary begins with Ken Russell posing the question: "What is a true English folk song,...
Movie page
The Aristofrogs
as uncreditedA short promotional film for the 2010 Oldenburg Film Festival consisting of various actors and...
Movie page
A Kitten for Hitler
as SantaThe result of a challenge from Melvyn Bragg to write a film that Ken Russell himself would be...
Movie page
Song of Summer
as PriestThe last five years of Frederick Delius's life through the eyes of a young composer and aide,...
Movie page
The Real Blue Nuns
as SelfAn investigation into nunsploitation, and why men find images of nuns involved in sexual...
Movie page
The Who: One Band's Explosive Story
as Self (archive footage)The story of Roger Daltrey (vocals), Pete Townshend (guitar), John Entwistle (bass) and Keith...
Movie page
Ken Russell: A Bit of a Devil
as Self (archive footage)Following the recent death of Ken Russell, Alan Yentob looks back over the career of the...
Movie page
Vaughan Williams: A Symphonic Portrait
as SelfSouth Bank Show documentary concerning the life and music of Ralph Vaughn Williams.
Movie page
A Turnip Head’s Guide To The British Cinema
as SelfDocumentary presenting Alan Parker’s view of British cinema with comments from Richard Lester...
Movie page
Walk With The Damned
as HoodGangsters run rampant until they encounter a gutsy minister.
Movie page
Music for the Movies: Georges Delerue
as SelfDocumentary covering the career of French composer Georges Delerue, famous for film scores for...
Movie page
Agatha Christie's Marple
as Rev Caleb Dane CalthropThe adventures of Miss Jane Marple, an elderly spinster living in the quiet little village of St...
TV Show page
Waking the Dead
as Gerry RaistrickA detective team apply new techniques to old crimes as they solve cold cases.
TV Show page
Celebrity Big Brother
as Self - ContestantCelebrity Big Brother is a British reality television game show in which a number of celebrity...
TV Show page
The South Bank Show
as SelfThe South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show that was produced by ITV between 1978 and...
TV Show page
Lady Chatterley
as Sir Michael ReidLady Constance Chatterley is married to the handicapped Sir Clifford Chatterley, who was wounded...
TV Show page