The Rainbow

As a teenager Ursula meets the dashing soldier, who almost seduces her in a church, slowly peeling off her glove, reminiscent of Brando picking up the glove in On the Waterfront.

But he cannot compete with the forbidden eroticism of the swimming instructor.  Ursula asserts her freedom by becoming a teacher, in a Dickensian school, but it is an unhappy place as she is caught between leering masters and prank-playing children.

Discovering she is pregnant her only hope seems to be with the soldier, but she discovers he has since married.  Caught in a fog she comes across horses which terrify her and she flees, the flight across a river causing a fever which almost kills her. She wakes at home, with her parents looking after her, and a rainbow outside her window encourages her to decide her future.

Russell uses many of the same people, actors and technicians, who had worked on Women in Love: Glenda Jackson and Christopher Gable, cinematographer Billy Williams and George Cole, gaffer.  The film company, Vestron, went bankrupt just before the release, so the film had no advertising whatsoever.

Sammi Davis (Lair of the White Worm) stars. Amanda Donohoe, also from Lair, has a major role. Both are good.

Glenda Jackson is superb acting as the mother. She plays the part so naturally you would never guess she is a double Oscar winning actress. Christopher Gable is equally convincing.

Molly Russell, Ken's daughter and Rupert Russell, his son, play the children.  Other regulars are David Hemmings (Clouds of Glory), Judith Paris, Kenneth Colley (Modeste in The Music Lovers).  The music of Carl Davis fits in well with film (for example the scene destroying the cabbages), and Imogen Claire does the choreography.  Photography was by Billie Williams and Peter Davis was the editor.  The book was adapted by Ken and then wife Vivian Russell. The only weaknesses in the script are the cursory references to industrialisation, which should have been dropped, and the confrontation with the horses where the symbolism is not clear.

...and the lesbian lovers swim against the flow

The rainbow sandwich.

The lesbian seduction.

The schoolgirls wear sailor suits.

The painter and his model.
Sexuality (repressed, lesbian).
The rocking horse (A British Picture, Folk Songs) and real horses.

Hills and lakes.
Catholicism (various church sequences).

Whore

She is sick of passing her money to her pimp, and the film develops through flashbacks. There are strong links to Crimes of Passion, and some scenes are repeats of the earlier film, but whereas Crimes of Passion looked at sexuality, Whore is another rite of passage film as the whore develops her independence. This coupled with Theresa speaking straight to the camera make it almost a one-woman film. The mixture of whore and mother is also more convincing than China Blue's dual life.

Although the film is Russell's third American film (Altered States and Crimes of Passion went before) it was originally firmly set in Britain, based on a play by David Hines.  The play, about a prostitute around the London King Cross area, was a monologue which led to Ken Russell's direct-to-camera approach.

The censored title is If You Can't Say It, Just See It.

This was a censored version to be sold in malls and supermarkets. The new title is crudely placed over the original.  It grossed over $1m in America.

Theresa Russell is especially good as the whore.  She is no relation to Ken. Ken Russell has a minor role playing the head waiter. He also does camerawork, credited as Alf Russell.

Huggy Bear from Starsky and Hutch appears.

Brian Tagg from Crimes of Passion (as well as Bruckner and Prisoners of Honor) edits.

Theresa Russell lying on a bench with her long hair falling down, but filmed sideways so it looks as if she is upright and her hair is straight out.

The phallic food.

The two girls talking together or reading or watching a film with one falling asleep.

There is a film within the film.

One scene takes place in a cinema showing The Lair of the White Worm.

There is promiscuous sexuality (compare Crimes of Passion), latent lesbianism and violent rape (compare The Music Lovers).

Mindbender

The credits begin with "the following events are true and are interpreted through the artistic eye of Ken Russell".

Uri's father and lover dance on top of an Israeli tank beside a 3-dimensional Dali-clock. The child Uri pulls a bullet out of a wall (the six day war recurs in the film) and when he holds it in his hand it turns into a ring.

When his teacher tells Uri to stay in class until the hands of the clock reach half past four, of course young Uri has no problems moving the hands and leaving early. But this sort of thing is really banal and the films comes over as a paid-for vanity film for Uri Geller

There is a silly spy plot and Geller seems to save the world from nuclear war.

For the benefit of this page I watched the film again. It does not improve with repeated viewing. Also my watch stopped.

Terence Stamp adds some badly needed acting ability. Hetty Baynes seems to have the role of an intelligent bimbo, and some genuine intelligence comes over.

Music consists of recordings such as Elton John's Rocket Man and The Moody Blues Nights in White Satin, both of which fit well.

Geller himself also appears. If you buy the video it will change your life since you can have your broken watches and clocks repaired (just hold them as Uri talks). Uri also wants to touch you, so put your hand to the screen and touch his- feel it!! Geller is not very convincing as he pretends the rubbish is true.

Editors are Xavier Russell and John Orland, cinematography is by Hong Manley. The script is co-written by Ken and Yael Stern.

The black swings on the white beach, genuinely haunting images in a boring film.

The child Uri eating soup when his spoon bends is reasonably funny.

The child Uri about to be beaten and falling backwards among the tailors dummies.

Fire. Uri (in a dream) walks through a wall of fire over a minefield.

A kite bursts into flame just like the hut in Mahler.

Sensory deprivation