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Ken Russell made a series of very low budget films. They demonstrate the depth of his imagery and vision, and also the desperation of making money by sensation. At times the best and the worst are side by side, as in Gothic. This period includes a short film, Aria, which is a classic.
Ken Russell was attracted to the Shelley and Byron story of incest and debauchery. It starts with tourists paying to look through telescopes to the Byron residence across the water. Just as Russell did with Liszt, Shelley and Byron are treated as pop stars with adoring groupies. Under the effect of drugs, nightmares start to take over as each character searches for an illusory gratification. Natasha however does not need drugs to confront her nightmares.
The poster was banned by London Transport, despite the image being based on a classical painting, Henry Fuseli's The Nightmare.
The film is enjoyable and the first half is vintage Russell but it does deteriorate a bit towards the
end. Ken Russell says "I'd fallen into the trap which has been the undoing of many a... pop-video
director- punchy, roller-coaster cutting, short sequences and non-stop action... well nigh unbearable over a
hundred minutes or so". |
