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Ken Russell

Director

Ken Russell

Born July 3, 1927 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, UKDied November 27, 201182 films

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.

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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."

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The best way into Ken Russell's work
The Devils posterFirst watchThe Devils19717.5In 1634 France, charismatic Father Urbain Grandier becomes the target of a sexually obsessed nun’s witchcraft accusations, which corrupt church and state officials are all too happy to…View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach
Altered States poster6.7Altered States1980Tommy poster6.5Tommy1975The Lair of the White Worm poster5.9The Lair of the White Worm1988Crimes of Passion poster6.3Crimes of Passion1984Women in Love poster6.6Women in Love1969Gothic poster5.7Gothic1987Billion Dollar Brain poster5.6Billion Dollar Brain1967The Music Lovers poster6.5The Music Lovers1971

Filmography

82 films as director
  1. 2009Boudica Bites BackDirector
  2. 2007A Kitten for HitlerDirector
  3. 2007Watch the BirdieDirector
  4. 2006Trapped AshesDirector
  5. 2006Charlotte Brontë Enters the Big Brother HouseDirector
  6. 2005The Miners' Picnic by Ken RussellDirector
  7. 2004Revenge of the Elephant ManDirector
  8. 2002Elgar: Fantasy on a Composer on a BicycleDirector
  9. 2002The Fall of the Louse of UsherDirector
  10. 2000Lion's MouthDirector
  11. 1998DogboysDirector
  12. 1997In Search of the English Folk SongDirector
  13. 1996MindbenderDirector
  14. 1996Tales of EroticaDirector
  15. 1995Treasure IslandDirector
  16. 1995The Insatiable Mrs. KirschDirector
  17. 1995Alice in RussialandDirector
  18. 1992The Secret Life of Arnold BaxDirector
  19. 1992The Mystery of Dr MartinuDirector
  20. 1991Prisoner of HonorDirector
  21. 1991WhoreDirector
  22. 1991Road to MandalayDirector
  23. 1990The Strange Affliction of Anton BrucknerDirector
  24. 1990Women and Men: Stories of SeductionDirector
  25. 1989The RainbowDirector
  26. 1989A British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant TerribleDirector
  27. 1989Il MefistofeleDirector
  28. 1988The Lair of the White WormDirector
  29. 1988Salome's Last DanceDirector
  30. 1988Ken Russell's ABC of British MusicDirector
  31. 1987AriaDirector
  32. 1987GothicDirector
  33. 1985FaustDirector
  34. 1984Crimes of PassionDirector
  35. 1984Vaughan Williams: A Symphonic PortraitDirector
  36. 1983The PlanetsDirector
  37. 1980Altered StatesDirector
  38. 1977ValentinoDirector
  39. 1975LisztomaniaDirector
  40. 1975TommyDirector
  41. 1974MahlerDirector
  42. 1972Savage MessiahDirector
  43. 1971The Boy FriendDirector
  44. 1971The DevilsDirector
  45. 1971The Music LoversDirector
  46. 1970Dance of the Seven VeilsDirector
  47. 1969Women in LoveDirector
  48. 1968Song of SummerDirector
  49. 1967Dante's InfernoDirector
  50. 1967Billion Dollar BrainDirector
  51. 1966Don’t Shoot the ComposerDirector
  52. 1966Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the WorldDirector
  53. 1965Always on SundayDirector
  54. 1965The Debussy FilmDirector
  55. 1964The Diary of a NobodyDirector
  56. 1964Bela BartókDirector
  57. 1964French DressingDirector
  58. 1962ElgarDirector
  59. 1962Mr Chesher’s Traction EnginesDirector
  60. 1962The Preservation ManDirector
  61. 1962Pop Goes the EaselDirector
  62. 1962The Lonely ShoreDirector
  63. 1961London MoodsDirector
  64. 1961Old Battersea HouseDirector
  65. 1961Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt WeillDirector
  66. 1961ProkofievDirector
  67. 1961Antonio GaudíDirector
  68. 1960The Light FantasticDirector
  69. 1960Shelagh Delaney's SalfordDirector
  70. 1960A House in BayswaterDirector
  71. 1960A Bedlington Miners' PicnicDirector
  72. 1960Journey Into a Lost WorldDirector
  73. 1959Scottish PaintersDirector
  74. 1959Portrait of a GoonDirector
  75. 1959From Spain to StreathamDirector
  76. 1959Variations on a Mechanical ThemeDirector
  77. 1959Gordon JacobDirector
  78. 1959John Betjeman: A Poet in LondonDirector
  79. 1958Amelia and the AngelDirector
  80. 1958LourdesDirector
  81. 1956PeepshowDirector
  82. 1956Knights on BikesDirector