Salome's Last Dance

R

1988

1h 29m

Drama

List

40%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

85%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Upon arriving at an all-male brothel where he is welcomed as a regular, controversial Irish scribe Oscar Wilde (Nickolas Grace) is treated to a surprise performance of his recently banned work of theater, "Salome." As a group of prostitutes runs through a bizarre and bawdy version of the play -- which retells the story of Herod (Stratford Johns), his daughter and the execution of John the Baptist -- Wilde responds to the sexual advances of a handsome young man.

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Harrison M

Walked into a half price books and picked up this VHS for $15 on a whim. Blew my f mind. Cheers Ken Russell Cheers Imogen! brilliant performance. Absolute gem.💎

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

To the tune of Tom Petty: "Last dance with Salomé / A bad time to be a ga-a-ay" Brilliantly acted and cleverly staged, Russell educes the layers of excess, decadence, and wild(e) camp already contained within the classic and important source material, as Strauss had done before him, to singular effect.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

God I wish we could go back in time and have Ken Russell direct every play ever. Or at least revive this as an immersive theater play. As a Godless heathen I gotta admit I went into this a little blind as far as how I was 'meant' to feel about this story of Salome. I presume from Oscar Wilde's tears and the small bit of Biblical knowledge I possess that Salome is, for all intents and purposes, the 'bad' guy here. But I couldn't help but think - and I think Ken Russell is definitely here with me - that she comes across as more of the celebrated victor. I mean, starting off this play with three topless women dressed in Roman armor sodomizing a man in a cage with a large prosthetic penis... like, who could say that was 'evil'!?! For serious though, more than anything the movie struck me as a story of how men are undone by beauty. Herod is undone by Salome and her mother. The solider is undone by Salome. Oscar is undone by Bosie, then the golden boy (and then Bosie again). And John the Baptist is spiritually undone by his love of God - captured and tortured - and then physically undone by Salome. And it's that exact male failure and embarrassment with themselves that, in the play, leads to Salome's unnecessary punishment. Beautiful BEAUTIFUL set, great plot set up, fun play, insane costumes, amazing dance. And again a word about Russell's use of nudity... like boy, in any other movie I'd be side-eyeing so hard at the half naked women running around but in a Ken Russell flick he makes nudity not only equal opportunity (there's full frontal male nudity!) but also a power move. More natural, more classic, more power. JEAH boiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Another gorgeous and wonderfully campy entry from that cinematic god named Ken Russell.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

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Audience Member

For me, one of the best movies about Oscar Wilde's masterpiece. Some details are brilliant. And the original lines are respected.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I'm not really sure why reviewers seem to think that King Herod (Stratford Johns) is the centerpiece of this play within a movie. The whole thing balances on the amazing performance by Imogen Millais-Scott as Salome, without whom the film falls apart. Well, that's not entirely true. The staging of the play is breathtaking. Ken Russel and Oscar Wilde were born to be together.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

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Ken Russell

Director

Glenda Jackson

Herodias

Stratford Johns

Herod

Nickolas Grace

Oscar Wilde

Douglas Hodge

John the Baptist

Denis Lill

Tigellenus

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Despite the fact that Salome's Last Dance encompasses almost the entire text of a play by Wilde, it seems shapeless and without purpose.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

...Russell was a creative force, and it would be nice if the fan-boys who scramble over his most salacious work showed some interest in this difficult, but surprisingly melancholy and mature take on the methodical literary madness of Oscar Wilde.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 23, 2024

Full Review

Michael Bronski

Gay Community News (Boston)

When Russell sticks to Oscar Wilde’s Salome he is on sound ground... When he is dealing with Wilde’s life, how¬ ever, he is so far adrift in his own self- indulgent pseudo-analysis that he loses not only our respect but our patience as well.

Sep 8, 2022

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Bernard Welt

Washington Blade

Strictly for serious Ken Russell fans and gluttons for punishment -- which may amount to the same thing.

May 23, 2022

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Hilary Mantel

The Spectator

The line between eccentricity and buffoonery has been crossed.

Sep 5, 2018

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jul 19, 2005

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Synopsis

Upon arriving at an all-male brothel where he is welcomed as a regular, controversial Irish scribe Oscar Wilde (Nickolas Grace) is treated to a surprise performance of his recently banned work of theater, "Salome." As a group of prostitutes runs through a bizarre and bawdy version of the play -- which retells the story of Herod (Stratford Johns), his daughter and the execution of John the Baptist -- Wilde responds to the sexual advances of a handsome young man.

Director: Ken Russell
Producer: Dan Ireland, William J. Quigley
Screenwriter: Ken Russell
Production Co: Jolly Russell Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English (United Kingdom)
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA): $13.7K
Runtime: 1h 29m
Sound Mix: Surround

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