Ken Russell's LEOMANIA? in The Gossip Mill Forum

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Ken Russell's LEOMANIA?

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Ken Hanke	Ken Russell's LEOMANIA?	Lead	[-]
Posts: 71305 May 19 00 1:03 AM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Sorry to report that at the last minute financing fell through on Ken Russell's THE FALL OF THE LOUSE OF USHER, but the idefatigable Mr. Russell--while awaiting the GODS AND MONSTERS people to get the money together for his film about J.M. Barrie and Peter Pan, NEVERLANDS--has set his sights, he tells me, on another underground project, which he does have the financing for and which should start shooting next month. Based on a true story of a clergyman who was defrocked for his propensity for saving "fallen" women, the film charts the fellow's fall from grace to doing a hot gospel "act" in Blackpool, preaching the sermon of Daniel in the Lion's den from inside a cage with the animal in question. The film is being called, yep, LEOMANIA, and it sounds more than slightly interesting as Ken relates it.
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Ken Hanke	Re: Ken Russell's LEOMANIA?	#1	[-]
Posts: 71305 May 19 00 1:38 AM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well, I'm not really talking to myself, but I wanted to see if Mr. Valley's instructions on how to make a picture thingie worked and since the picture in question of me and some white haired filmmaker, this seemed as good a place as any...
Unregistered(d)	Re: Ken Russell's LEOMANIA?	#2	[-]
Posts: 0 May 31 00 3:04 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ken, I'm a huge fan of Ken Russell films! I just read something (that I had missed originally in a back issue issue of SS) about Ken doing his own version of Peter Pan, which is another favorite of mine. I am so excited! I was looking through the SS boards for a Ken Russell section. Is this it or is it somewhere else? I have some questions and comments. I'll make them here if this is the place but if there's somewhere else please direct me there. Thanks! Also, is it possible to enlarge the thumbnail pictures under your names? Yours turned out but I can hardly see it.
Ken Hanke	Re: Ken Russell's LEOMANIA?	#3	[-]
Posts: 71305 May 31 00 5:31 AM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rick, so far as I'm concerned you can post about Ken Russell anywhere on here! Because of my Mr. Interlocutor status, I pretty much have to read everything (okay, yeah, I skip the BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER folder most times), and I'm probably who you want to come to with KR questions. As concerns the picture, I don't know how to enlarge these things, but that's Ken Russell and me getting pretty damned drunk in Muswell's Cafe Bar in London back in 1990. You can see it somewhat better on page 5 (I think) of the Scarlet Street Website Gallery section. (Note: Neither of us any longer sport facial hair and my own hair is racing to catch up with the color of T'other Ken's.)
Unregistered(d)	Re: Ken Russell's LEOMANIA?	#4	[-]
Posts: 0 Jun 1 00 2:12 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks for your reply, Ken. Idiot that I am, I forgot to click on the "Email me notification of all replies to this topic" and, having forgotten under which thread I posted my query, spent too much time looking for it. If it's OK with you, I'll start a "Ken Russell Films" thread tomorrow so that any other posters who wish to contribute might more easily find it. In the past, I've had lots of questions about KR and his films but they've been put on grey matter "hold". So, I need to search my memory (a bit harder than searching the SS boards) and try to come up with some questions. I also found a bio of KR several years ago but misplaced it before I read it. If I can find it tonight I'll start on it and it may jog some of those questions from my medulla. As soon as I post this, I'll check out the greatly enlarged photo of the two Kens! Thanks again!
Ken Hanke	Re: Ken Russell's LEOMANIA?	#5	[-]
Posts: 71305 Jun 1 00 3:41 AM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'll be looking forward to your questions and comments on KR, Rick. Which book did you have? There are something like 5 books on his films (including mine) and his autobiography (a great, entertaining read, but not as much about the movies as you might expect or desire and. . .well, to repeat his response when I asked him how true it was, "It's true...in spirit").
Unregistered(d)	Re: Ken Russell's LEOMANIA?	#6	[-]
Posts: 0 Jun 2 00 3:50 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hi Ken, When I leave here I'll start a Ken Russell string in an appropriate place. The book I have is his autobiography. I was able to finish the first chapter last night and laughed at a slight synchronicity that caught my attention. I had been exploring the SS boards (just before I started Ken's autobiography) and read the Disney section under "Animated Discussions" and found that Disney's "Pinnochio" is a favorite of a lot of folks here. Of course, you know what happened to Ken when he saw "Pinnochio" for the first time!
Unregistered(d)	Re: Ken Russell's LEOMANIA?	#7	[-]
Posts: 0 Jun 2 00 4:32 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Oops, Ken! I had intentions of starting a "Favorite Films" topic under the "Film" section and then a Ken Russell string under that but I suppose only you guys (in your infinite wisdom) can create the initial first section so as to not have too many of them. Instead of starting another KR string elsewhere, I'll just continue here.... My first question is, how much do you (or anyone) know about Ken's Peter Pan film? I think you called it "Neverlands"? Do you think it will actually be made? I mean, is it one of Ken's main projects or is it a minor one? (If you've already related this information somewhere else, please direct me there so you don't have to repeat yourself.) "Peter Pan" is my all time favorite, er, well, childhood classic I suppose is a sufficient classification. (It's also my favorite Disney animated film.) I've always hoped someone could do justice to Barrie's original depiction of the PP character in a non-animated film. I was excited years ago when Spielberg was rumored to be considering such a project but cringed when I heard Michael Jackson wanted the title role! Spielberg's segment of "Kick the Can" in "Twilight Zone The Movie" nodded nicely to the Peter Pan theme, so perhaps Spielberg got it out of his system at that point. (I'm not forgetting about "Hook". While in my opinion, "Hook" has it's place, I'm talking about the actual J. M. Barrie story of "Peter Pan".) Also, the kid in "Kick the Can" segment who decides to remain forever young...Evan Richards...I thought would have made a wonderful Peter Pan. Too late now, though. Anyway, sorry for rambling but I'm very excited about another of my favorite directors (KR) doing such a project! Please tell us anything and everything you can about this. Which are your favorite KR films? I've not seen all of them but my all time favorites (presently) are "The Music Lovers", "Salome's Last Dance", and "Gothic". I'm trying to find them all on video. (My friends and I laughed our asses off watching the scene on the train in "Music Lovers" where a naked, passed-out Glenda Jackson rolls and flops over a nauseated Richard Chamberlain. True genius, not to mention uncannily insightful in regards to the gay psyche, for KR to depict a situation like that!) How is Ken's health? He seems very well for someone his age (not that everyone shouldn't). Is he as enthusiastic as ever about making films? I hope so. Long life to him. Thanks for your time, Ken. Also, what is your KR book called? (I may find out before you answer. I'm going to look for it in Amazon.) Thanks!
Ken Hanke	RUSSELLMANIA	#8	[-]
Posts: 71305 Jun 2 00 4:01 PM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well, Rick, let's see...NEVERLANDS is being produced by the GODS AND MONSTERS people and it's pretty major for Ken if it comes to pass. They sent him the script for him to rewrite. He did and they took it with no requests for revisions! ("That's a first," he told me.) Considering that LEOMANIA is very much an underground film--being shot on tape and transferred to film--I'd call NEVERLANDS a much bigger project. I don't know much about it at this point, but it somehow deals with the story of J.M. Barrie as his life relates to PETER PAN...at least as I understand it and if memory serves! Ken's health seems to be quite good. He was very chipper and upbeat last time I spoke to him (which'd be the day I posted the LEOMANIA thing). And at 72, I think he has more energy than I do at 45. Indeed, he gave me crap for not working on my own films, telling me that my location problems were just an excuse on my latest ("Do like I'm doing and shoot it in your back garden!") attempt. As for my favorites... TOMMY MAHLER LISZTOMANIA SAVAGE MESSIAH RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER (TV) THE MUSIC LOVERS THE DEVILS THE BOY FRIEND SALOME'S LAST DANCE WOMEN IN LOVE VALENTINO WILLIAM AND DOROTHY (TV) SONG OF SUMMER (TV) THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM CRIMES OF PASSION THE SECRET LIFE OF ARNOLD BAX (TV) GOTHIC THE RAINBOW FRENCH DRESSING DANTE'S INFERNO (TV) THE STRANGE AFFLICTION ON ANTON BRUCKNER (TV) ISADORA (TV) LADY CHATTERLEY (TV) THE PLANETS (TV) WHORE PRISONER OF HONOR (TV) and let's not talk about DOGBOYS or MINDBENDER. The top three are always the same. Some of the others shift around a good bit. And I may have left something out, but them's the main ones. And I know of none of those that are without interest. The book is KEN RUSSELL'S FILMS, as you may know by now, and it only goes through ALTERED STATES, though I do cover an opera production--MADAME BUTTERFLY--and have a brief thing about CRIMES OF PASSION going into production. I'm currently working on a new one--biography and film book--that will bring it up to date.
Unregistered(d)	Re: RUSSELLMANIA	#9	[-]
Posts: 0 Jun 5 00 3:53 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks so much, Ken, for your information. I suspect perhaps "Neverlands" might be based (or derived from) the book on J.M. Barrie by Andrew Birkin ("J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys") which is excellent! I hope it comes to pass soon and that there will be many more KR films after that. I hope to purchase your book in the near future. Best of luck with the new one. Thanks also for sharing your list of fave KR films. I liked "Lisztomania" very much and just gave a copy of it to a friend as a birthday present. I recently found a copy of "Savage Messiah" which I hope to watch soon. Thanks again!
Ken Hanke	Re: RUSSELLMANIA	#10	[-]
Posts: 71305 Jun 5 00 5:09 AM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Two points, Rick--you have seen LISZTOMANIA properly letterboxed at 2.35:1 from laser, haven't you? The tapes are a disgrace--they're not completely corrected 'scope and are too light. As for SAVAGE MESSIAH...this is a very special film and I will be looking forward to hearing your opinion of it. BTW, in the acquisition of Russell rarities...feel free to e-mail me.
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Unregistered(d)	Mmmm-hmmm!	#11	[-]
Posts: 0 Jun 5 00 5:38 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I just have to say it: fascinating conversation regarding the venerable Mr. Russell. For a long time, I couldn't get into his work as I found it too self-indulgent and pretentious. But with the passing of time, I'm finding more and more to admire. I will have to do my best to find Ken H's book; I'm sure it's a fascinating read. For the record: the only Russell film I have in my collection is THE DEVILS. A truly masterful film to be savored time and time again. Against all odds, I'm also developing a desire to see WHITE WORM again. I really disliked it when I saw it, but I read more and more fascinating comments on it, so... I'll give it another whirl.
Ken Hanke	LEOMANIA to LION'S MOUTH	#12	[-]
Posts: 71305 Aug 30 00 5:28 PM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Spoke with Ken Russell this afternoon about the film that was LEOMANIA, which has now been retitled LION'S MOUTH in order not to confuse it with something about Leonardo DiCaprio (a not unreasonable desire). The film has finished shooting and Ken is in the throes of editing it--and is very, very pleased with the results. Also worth noting is that the long-time hold-out from the internet Ken Russell has finally decided he will be joining the Online World. In the meantime he pointed me to a website with which I was unfamiliar (that his daughter, Victoria, told him about). The interested may want to take a look... www.xs4all.nl/~fisher/russell1.html
Ken Hanke	Re: LEOMANIA to LION'S MOUTH	#13	[-]
Posts: 71305 Sep 15 00 12:07 PM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Meant to post yesterday that I had a talk--actually, an interview for ALTERNATIVE CINEMA--with Ken Russell yesterday about LION'S MOUTH (which sounds to be perhaps the most singularly bizarre film he has EVER made), which he described as the most purely enjoyable filmmaking experience he's had since he made AMELIA AND THE ANGEL back in 1957! Seems the experience was so incredibly positive for him that he is now going full steam ahead with THE FALL OF THE LOUSE OF USHER on his own--sadly, without Roger Daltrey and Twiggy, it seems--which is certainly good news for those of who delight in his special brand of cinematic brew.
Unregistered(d)	Re: LEOMANIA to LION'S MOUTH	#14	[-]
Posts: 0 Sep 16 00 1:06 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hello Ken, I am glad there is somewhere to talk about Ken Russell-I was beginning to annoy my family to death!I have a few questions you may be able to answer-1)I heard that "The Lion's Mouth" is going to be internet only.Do you know anything about this and how it is going to be done?2)Didn't Michael Palin or Terry Jones do a film on the same subject in the 1980's?3)I intend to get a DVD soon-do you or anybody know about the quality of Ken Russell DVDs so far?I've read some mixed reviews on Amazon.com and especially some bad things about "Mahler"'s transfer. Finally for you or anybody interested in Ken Russell I highly recommend "Savage Messiah".It is the second site I've seen for Ken Russell(the first one "The Creative Fire of Ken Russell",which is still up has been under construction for about a year and looks like they quit after day 2;not too much of a loss,because while the presentation was great the criticism was poor and condescending)."Savage Messiah" from what I gather is put up by a Scottish businessman named Iain Fisher,and while I do not agree with a lot of his comments(he seems to approach Russell as entertainment at the expense of artistry),his dilligent research and generous links to everything Ken Russell on the web(including buying) to his lavish photos(including many of The Lion's Mouth) evince a praiseworthy labor of love.Most fun is his voting section where anybody can pick the best or least Ken Russell films,favorite scenes or dilate upon which projects Ken should or should not do. There is also a site entirely devoted to "The Lair of the White Worm".
Ken Hanke	Re: LEOMANIA to LION'S MOUTH	#15	[-]
Posts: 71305 Sep 16 00 3:20 PM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well, let's see...first of all, I'm not at all sure what the fate of LION'S MOUTH may be. Ken did the film primarily as a kind of calling card and to see how viable he felt the medium of digital video was. As a result, he paid very little attention to pesky problems of copyright, meaning the film has a soundtrack that would need much in the way of clearance before anything could actually be done with it. What the film has primarily done is convince him to go ahead with the feature, THE FALL OF THE LOUSE OF USHER. The Ken Russell DVDs I've seen are all pretty decent really. MAHLER might be better--it's full frame is the main bitch--but it's superior to any tape that has been released. TOMMY is gorgeous and the restored Quintophonic track is breathtaking. SALOME'S LAST DANCE and LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM are also very well done and have the advantage of commentary tracks by KR. LAIR in particular is a delight in this realm--it's very like spending time with Russell and showcases his personal sense of humor. I haven't seen CRIMES OF PASSION on DVD, mostly because it's minus the commentary and my liner notes, which were on the laserdisc. I believe GOTHIC is also out, but I haven't picked that up yet. I've only briefly had a chance to look over the Savage Messiah site myself, but in the main I liked what I saw. I've never seen the other, nor was I familiar with a LAIR site, though it hardly surprises me that that film would have its own site, so popular it is with newer Russell fans. By the way, feel free to e-mail me as well. I never tire of talking Ken Russell.
Unregistered(d)	Re: LEOMANIA to LION'S MOUTH	#16	[-]
Posts: 0 Sep 17 00 11:30 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks, according to the Savage Messiah site you are planning to write a biography on Ken Russell but I couldn't find any info on it in these pages ,I hope this is true.I read your book on K.R. some years ago when I was teen and it was my first introduction to any sophisticated criticism and had a major influence on my approach to cinema.I hope that you do revise it and I was wondering if there were anything major that you might change today in your assessment of his films.
Ken Hanke	Re: LEOMANIA to LION'S MOUTH	#17	[-]
Posts: 71305 Sep 17 00 7:27 PM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks, Austin, though it always terrifies me when I am said to have influenced someone (paging Tony Strauss!). The reason there is nothing on my book is simply because it is very much a work in progress. I should note that it isn't an update of KR'S FILMS, but rather an entirely different approach that interweaves biography and criticism. I assure you you will know when it nears completion! As for reassessing my early book...God, yes! I was between 26 and 29 when I wrote that book and parts of it make me cringe (what a moralistic little prig I could sometimes be back then). Films I would re-evaluate? FRENCH DRESSING is top of that list. I might have to rethink some of BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN, too. WOMEN IN LOVE seems better to me now than then. I know I badly underrated VALENTINO and think I overrated ALTERED STATES, though a recent viewing of the remastered laser (I have yet to pick up the DVD) brought back a lot of why I was so enthused about it at the time. All those years of crummy transfers took their toll on it for me and the remastering was almost revelatory. Still, with a filmmaker like Russell so much is in the cumulative power. You get a better sense of a previous film by the works that come after it--and much that I thought conclusive about ALTERED STATES at the time now seems like a misreading to me, seeing where the work went afterwards--if that makes sense to you.
Unregistered(d)	Re: Ken Russell's LEOMANIA?	#18	[-]
Posts: 0 Sep 17 00 11:46 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hi Ken,you know this is very weird but I came to the same conclusions about your book when I read it and I thought you underrated "Women in Love" and "Valentino" and overrated "Altered States"!!("Billion Dollar Brain" on the other hand...).I first read the book in the late 80's and I did feel that in view of the pessimistic endings of some of the later films(Gothic,Salome's Last Dance) your contention that Russell's films were a journey from darkness to light(though understandable at the time) was tenuous and ultimately besides the point.However it is such a wonderfully intelligent and insightful book,that I haven't seen any criticism that approaches doing the justice done to Ken Russell's work that yours has done-even in its incompleteness its hard to imagine anyone surpassing it.I have always thought that the nine films done in the 1970's , Ken Russell's greatest body of work(whatever their flaws) and that subsequent films showed various degrees of falling off(with the exception Salome's Last Dance,the only one I would place beside them).Though "Crimes of Passion" is certainly directed with bravura straight through and "The Lair of the White Worm" is a perfect minor gem;both "Gothic" and "Altered States" have moments of undeniable genius. As to your "priggism",I suppose your referring to your writing about the only prerequisite to seeing "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" was to leave your moral sense at the door,a comment which still makes me smile today.
Ken Hanke	Re: Ken Russell's LEOMANIA?	#19	[-]
Posts: 71305 Sep 18 00 2:34 AM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Austin, dear, you're unnerving me--you knew exactly the comment that today makes me cringe! (Someday maybe I'll tell you why I made that comment...) I certainly appreciate the praise you're showering on my maiden effort, too. I'm not sure I quite agree with the idea that the films that follow ALTERED STATES are essentially out of keeping with a sense of growing optimisim, but are rather an outgrowth of it. They don't strike me as pessimistic for their own sake--and for that matter CRIMES OF PASSION, THE RAINBOW, THE STRANGE AFFLICTION OF ANTON BRUCKNER, WHORE, and LADY CHATTERLEY (let's leave MINDBENDER and DOGBOYS out of this!) actually fit the pattern of the films as I was viewing the collected body in the book. There IS a different tone, but I think it's one of Ken starting to pose some different questions about artists--and about himself. It's first really evidenced in GOTHIC where there's a new quality to the approach that goes beyong the question of "Are these people great despite how screwed up they are?" and into "What if these people are great BECAUSE of how screwed up they are?" There's a greater sense of wanting to understand the subjects and not judge them. SALOME (which I agree is the crown jewel of the later period, though T'other Ken sez LAIR is the one he's happiest with) takes this even further. All in all, they are--with the possible exception of THE RAINBOW--more reflective than active works. There's a wistful, melancholy feel to much of this work, even when it's being playful or funny. Have you seen THE SECRET LIFE OF SIR ARNOLD BAX? In some ways, this is probably Ken's most personal film--and one of the most telling, especially in two key moments: 1.) where Annie (Hetty Baynes) upbraids Bax (KR) for being "perfectly happy having other people act out your fantasies, but you're not so keen on doing it yourself," and 2.) where Bax surrenders his dreams to an idea of doing that which he feels he must do.
Unregistered(d)	Re: Ken Russell's LEOMANIA?	#20	[-]
Posts: 0 Sep 18 00 11:25 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hi Ken,you're new ideas have already got me very interested and are making me wish that your book were already out!I unfortunately have never seen "The Secret Life of Arnold Bax",though I remember reading about it in the N.Y. Times and being surprised to read about his marriage to Hetty Baynes(whatever happened to Vivian!).I have in fact seen only a few of Ken Russell's tv films(oh,those Brits are so lucky)-"Isadora","Dante's Inferno","Lady Chatterley" and "Dogboys"(and of these Dante was best).I did manage to catch both "Knights on Bikes" and "Peepshow".I also saw "The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch",which while I do not detest it the way some Ken Russell fans do-I thought it was obviously inferior to his other short film,the beautiful and haunting "Nessun Dorma".My feeling of a falling off of Ken Russell's post Valentino work,stems from the fact of his taking on screenplays which lacked the subtlety of his direction(I always felt that even as good as "Crimes of Passion" and to a lesser extent "Gothic" and "Alterd States"are,that Ken Russell was rising above the material).Now,as you know the biggest weakness Ken Russell has is his dialogue-though it is definitely witty at times,it could be undeniably flat(particularly in "Mahler") and has always served a functional purpose and taken back seat to his visual flair.But in those films the screenplays tend to spell out their themes via some clumsy dialogue instead of letting Ken Russell just show them(though "Crimes of Passion" is at least very funny).This is why I think "Salome" and "Lair" which are written both by him come off best-though I am probably just realizing this.
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Ken Russell's LEOMANIA?

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