Where the Devil are Ken’s films?
May 23rd, 2007 by julian upton
If you’re like me, you may have let yourself down by tuning into Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year when you discovered that the incomparable filmmaker Ken Russell was a contestant.
I don’t know what I was expecting from Ken, but he was a disappointment, looking bored and engaging in uninspired conversation with housemates sixty years his junior. He ruffled a couple of feathers with his grumpiness, but even at his most badly behaved he couldn’t compete with the histrionics that eventually took hold of the house. If anything, Big Brother made Ken Russell look diffident and restrained — an achievement indeed!
It’s not clear what Russell wanted to prove by going in, but he appeared to fail in his quest. When he left, without fanfare, I doubt any of the TV audience rushed out to buy his films, or joined the various petitions to persuade Warner Bros. to re-release The Devils (1971). This is a shame, because Russell’s oeuvre is woefully under-represented on DVD. And the continued absence of The Devils is the saddest thing of all.
An account of the heresy trial of Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) in the town of Loudun in 17th Century France, The Devils has weathered the passage of time much better than other British releases that unbalanced the censor in 1971, such as Straw Dogs. A testament to Russell’s skill not just as a purveyor of shocks but also as a practitioner of the art of cinema, The Devils is an incredible, visceral experience (thanks to Derek Jarman’s sets, David Watkin’s cinematography and a jarring, unconventional score by Peter Maxwell Davies). It is also notable for Reed’s performance, which, during the torture scenes particularly, conveys a power that is still deeply unsettling.
The most complete version of the film was shown at the NFT in 2004, and fairly intact versions have had rare screenings on TV. But its last UK video release was ten years ago, pre-DVD. And other films from Russell’s best period —The Music Lovers (1970), Savage Messiah (1972) — have been just as hard to see.
The argument for not releasing these is commercial — they are not likely to give The Da Vinci Code a run for its money (although even Salome’s Last Dance, one of Russell’s worst movies, is better than The Da Vinci Code.) But if there’s a DVD audience for Impromptu (about Chopin) then surely there’s one for The Music Lovers. If Xanadu can secure a release, why can’t The Boy Friend? If people pay good money for The Agony and the Ecstasy, surely they’ll fork out for Savage Messiah!
The Devils will require expensive special edition treatment if its potential audience is to be satisfactorily catered for. But it’s unlikely that this is the only reason Warners are hanging back. The film is clearly still too provocative, too blasphemous for a major corporation to put its name to.
We can be thankful, at least, that Russell’s most successful film. Women in Love (1969) is available, and it is fitting that Tommy (1975) has been blessed with a double-disc release. It is encouraging to see a couple of his ground-breaking early TV films — Elgar (1962) and Song of Summer (1968) — have made it to DVD. The terrific Mahler (1974) is also worth seeking out. But surely Russell needs to be comprehensively honoured on DVD while he is still alive (he’s about to turn 80). We need his insight and commentary on the films, his advice on the transfers. Surely this is a better use of his time than locking him up with Jade Goody.
There was an immediate spin-off from his Celebrity Big Brother appearance - a regular column in The Times, wherein he revealed that he’s already recorded a commentary for the unexpurgated version of ‘The Devils’… two years ago. And if you licence and throw in Mark Kermode’s ‘Hell on Earth’ documentary, that’s a pretty damn special edition right there.
I can confirm from personal experience that a more than acceptable digital master already exists, as the NFT projected it in what I presume was HD in November 2004 - it was clearly video, as there were a few tell-tale jaggies on diagonals, but the resolution was much too high to be standard definition. And in the post-screening discussion a BBFC man in the audience confirmed that there would be no problem passing it uncut.
So I suspect the second explanation is the more likely one - that Warner Home Video is scared of the fallout if they tried releasing it in the US. It’s extraordinarily unlikely to get an R (the original was X-rated even after lacerating cuts - far worse than the relatively mild trims applied by the BBFC), which gives them a headache as well, as major studios don’t like either NC-17 or unrated films.
But none of this explains why it isn’t out in its native country.
Those are interesting points, Michael. At least we can all appreciate that The Devils continues to be controversial (even with the BBFC’s endorsement). When it comes to Savage Messiah (1972), The Music Lovers (1970) and The Boyfriend (1971), though, there doesn’t seem to be a discernable reason for not releasing them. (OK, apart from the commercial one!)
A huge wave of critical apathy seems to persist when it comes to Ken Russell. When you look at someone like Russ Meyer in the US, he was regarded with a lot of respect long before he died, and he’d been a grindhouse director, apart from the sojourn to 20th Century Fox in the early 70s. Maybe Russell’s mistake was staying active — perhaps, like Meyer, he should have thrown in the towel around 1979 and waited for the respect to come!
Reading the ‘Related Films’ section after my column in this month’s MovieMail newsletter, you’d think that there was no shortage of Russell movies available, but I think we need to revisit not just the good, ‘well-behaved’ stuff, but also Lisztomania (1975), Crimes of Passion (1984) and Lair of the White Worm (1988). Russell fell further out of critical and commercial favour as the eighties progressed, but I think he continued to churn out fascinating stuff until at least the end of that decade.
My goodness, what a hot topic Julian Upton has tapped into with his ‘Flicker Fusion’ article in the latest MovieMail catalogue. THE DEVILS is undoubtedly THE most eagerly-awaited DVD release ever - bar none. You would not believe how many people out there want to see this classic movie restored in all its full glory. Some of them, of course, have never seen it and know it only by reputation or via the appallingly produced VHS release (edited, squashed anamorphic image, ropey sound - the list of what was wrong with that edition is endless) while others fondly remember seeing it on the big screen at the time of release. I recall travelling some distance to the nearest showing in Nottingham just days before the local Watch Committee got cold feet and pulled it from exhibition. No one walked out, no one was sick and, as far as I’m aware, no one’s morals or sensibilities were corrupted. But the movie disappeared.
Despite the nay-sayers, Russell remains one of Britain’s finest and most idiosyncratic film auteurs of the last 50 years. He freely admits to some errors of filmic judgement in later years but, along with WOMEN IN LOVE, this film, THE DEVILS, is his finest hour. The same goes for some of the other participants - Oliver Reed, Vanessa Redgrave, John Woodvine, Derek Jarman, Dudley Sutton - indeed, everybody who contributed to that film can be justifiably proud of their work. They, or at least those who are still alive, must wonder why their efforts have been buried by Warners’ seemingly intractable refusal to do the right thing here.
So, what we can we do? If Mark Kermode, along with thousands upon thousands of articulate petition signatories and Russell himself, cannot get Warner Home Video to take positive action, where does that leave the rest of us? I have tried the direct approach to Warner UK. This gets no real reply, just the automated message saying thank you for your comments which will be taken into consideration (yeah, and then ignored). I have joined the countless message-boarders on sites such as IMDB clamouring for this movie. Teasingly, rumours of release dates surface from time to time, but nothing really happens.
Warners’ position is, frankly, inconsistent.They’ve handled ‘difficult’ pictures before. THE DEVILS was just one of a trio of cinematic controversies from the early 70s. The others, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and THE EXORCIST, were eventually given fabulous DVD restorations with no problems and lots of profit for Warners. You’d think they’d push forward a legitimate release of THE DEVILS to squeeze out the bootleg DVD currently for sale on eBay. (The bootleg, I’m told, is only taken from the VHS release but it has been improved somewhat and some missing footage restored, sourced from Mark Kermode’s TV documentary - some buyers, against their own principles, accept it for now as the only available version. Pah!)
If it is true that Warners are still afraid of this film, why can’t they license it to a reputable independent to release? Criterion would do a splendid job and place the film in its more appropriate market. Perhaps a limited release in a ‘friendly’ market is called for. A Region 2 release only would satisfy most Russo-philes. The Region 1 buyers could always import it, and Warners need then have no fear of political repercussions in their home territories. All of which makes you wonder if the execs at Warners really understand the message of their film.
Beyond the veneer of violence and physical excess, this is a movie about the corrupting influence of power and how it can be used to bury greater truths about the individual and the State. By withholding this film, they are guilty of the same abuses of power. Kafka would be proud of them.
Finally, it’s not just Ken Russell who is in danger of not living long enough to see this film given its due artistic merit. Many of its original fans, such as myself, are also in our autumn years. I have been a lifelong film fan and collector and this single omission renders my collection permanently incomplete. Still, I remain optimistic. I never thought I would see Lindsay Anderson’s IF. getting a DVD release, yet that will be with us in a few weeks. So, perhaps, just perhaps.
P.S. MovieMail is a GIANT within the DVD business (grovel, fawn, lick) - is there nothing YOU can do? Go on, you like a challenge!
Ken Russell is a great film maker because of a superb instinct for what can be done with the medium. Along with this instinct is an uncensored willingness to go right out on a limb to achieve the impact he wants. While I am sure that he has a definite wish to shock us, I never feel the phony sensationalism of some other “controversial” film-makers in his best work. So many films are painfully polite efforts that could equally well be told through a book or play. Indeed, they often exist already in another form and their transfer to film is a mechanical exercise in marketing. All of Russell’s films are unimaginable in any other medium. Like few other directors, even his failures are fascinating.
Having finally seen the film when a restored version was shown on British television a few years ago, I can say that “The Devils” is one of Ken Russell’s greatest films and Warner’s failure to release it on DVD is deeply disappointing. Warner’s technical expertise in restoring a film must be second to none (Look what they did for the Adventures of Robin Hood). Shame on you, Warners!
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[…] my colleague Julian Upton asked “Where the Devil are Ken’s Films?” he caused quite a stir. Ken Russell’s fleeting, rotund appearance on Celebrity Big Brother […]
Some thoughts and memories from David Watkin on ‘The Devils’:
When Ken phoned about THE DEVILS the first thing he sought was an assurance that the subject didn’t give offence. When I said of course it didn’t he said,
“I promise you there’ll be nothing in the film that is not documented historical fact. There’s no point otherwise.”
I’d read Huxley’s book when it first came out in 1952. Years afterwards when I came to know Christopher Isherwood I confessed that I found Huxley’s novels impossible to read.
“Oh yes, he wasn’t a novelist. The great thing about Aldous was that he had a noble curiosity, he would never rest until he had established the clear truth about whatever interested him.”
Censors are exercised only when they run up against facts. Lies are easily refuted – the truth is not.
Hi, just one comment, Ken is one of my favourite directors and I thought Solome’s last Dance was great…most of his 80’s, 90’s and 2000 works are not great, there are a few that are, Lair, Solome, Altered States, even the Rainbow but others such as Whore and Crimes of Passion are weak…Long live Ken!
It’s very sad that Russell himself may not live to see his masterpiece ‘The Devil’s’ released in the version he intended on DVD.
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yes it would be wonderful to see an uncut version of The Devils on DVD. since no one has mentioned it above, i’ll give a quick mention to Gothic. this is one of Ken’s most accomplished films and hugely underrated. it has all his trademark visual imagination and some fine performances. happily this is available on DVD, so i would urge anyone who hasn’t yet seen it to check it out…