Audience Member
I need more Ken Russell in my life. His films are weird, unique, cool, regal, purposeful, wild, modern, obnoxious, empathetic, uncomfortable, hilarious…there's never a dull moment. The heart this film has for closeted gay people is so far ahead of it time, showing the danger of pretending to be who you think people want you to be. It furthers the argument many storytellers make about composers, that they could be nightmares to those closest to them. Just wish there was more music composing / performing.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Ostensibly like Tchaikovsky's own (and especially later) music, the film vacillates wildly in tone, shifting from scenes of intense and serious passion to moments ebullient and blithe-unlike Tchaikovsky, however, Russell's film fails to strike a balance among the extremes and ends up being rather pathetic in the end. The topsy-turvy tonality fails to achieve the melodramatic import of lived experience that Tchaikovsky's work aspires to, instead coming across as ironic, inauthentic kitsch-the furthest thing from the romanticism at the heart of the music itself. Tellingly enough, the best sequences-the drunken sex scene in the train, in particular, which is absolutely fabulous-are those that embrace Russell's characteristic ironic bathos, exposing the vulgar absurdity at the hidden core of 19th Century sensibilities, rather than the more generic temptation here to see in Tchaikovsky an analogue for queer experience today.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/30/23
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Audience Member
Directed and acted in what feels like a pitch of fever, this is an overwrought but effective film.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/22/23
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Audience Member
If you are unfamiliar with Ken Russell, you maybe a bit shocked by the over-the-top approach taken in the tragic telling of Tchaikovsky and Antonia Milyukova -- but this is actually a restrained Ken Russell. And, Glenda Jackson is brilliant. Beautifully filmed and truly passionate filmmaking. A bit unbridled, but worth it.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/29/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Epic and lyrical, yet over-embellished and vulgar.
Tho well acted, w big emotions and given an immensely operatic treatment of Composer Tchaikovsky's life, this film enjoys and suffers the indulgences of director Ken Russell's handling.
I loved the lyricism and the flourishes of what are brilliant, classical music videos of the composers sweeping music.
The harrowing, disturbing displays of his life and relationships seem rather overblown here compared to the traditionally known, otherwise quiet gentleman who suffered his demons more likely internally.
Personally, I'd love to see my rather uneventful, ordinary life given the Ken Russell treatment just to see the emotionally blazing, caricature results...
Hahahahaha
As a movie: 3.5 of 5
As a biography: 1.5 of 5
My score overall: 2.5 of 5
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/12/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Often criticized for being an exaggerated and somewhat inaccurate bio of Tchaikovsky, the criticism seems to largely miss the point. Russell is striving for an emotional truth and he absolutely nails it. Russell had a deep understanding of music, and his musician biopics seem to be driven more by the music and the emotions they reveal about the composers than a dry regurgitation of facts. The scenes set to music in this film are extraordinary ... some of the best I have ever seen.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/01/23
Full Review
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