Song of Summer

“…And those enormous clouds that piled themselves up near the top, it seemed hopeless…”

The mountain ascent, as I’ve said before, is probably in the top three scenes ever. The perspicacity of Russell’s images never ceases to amaze me. We cut from the smiling visages of remembrance to the sweaty, brutal reality. As the attendant, Percy and Jelka become shrouded in the fog, knee-deep in the harshness of the situation, Delius sees the last sight he will ever truly appreciate, as if stood tall for the final instance. The portrait is complete, the truth of the man brought into sharp relief. It is others who consistently become canon-fodder to his perfunctory idiosyncrasies, all in service of the music. There’s always a cost. It moves me to tears every time.  

“And suddenly they all drifted away and there was the most glorious sunset!”

(My 600th unique watch this year deserved a masterpiece. It had to be a Russell venture but I’m pleased I chose this)

“…And those enormous clouds that piled themselves up near the top, it seemed hopeless…”

The mountain ascent, as I’ve said before, is probably in the top three scenes ever. The perspicacity of Russell’s images never ceases to amaze me. We cut from the smiling visages of remembrance to the sweaty, brutal reality. As the attendant, Percy and Jelka become shrouded in the fog, knee-deep in the harshness of the situation, Delius sees the last sight he will ever truly appreciate, as if stood tall for the final instance. The portrait is complete, the truth of the man brought into sharp relief. It is others who consistently become canon-fodder to his perfunctory idiosyncrasies, all in service of the music. There’s always a cost. It moves me to tears every time.  

“And suddenly they all drifted away and there was the most glorious sunset!”

(My 600th unique watch this year deserved a masterpiece. It had to be a Russell venture but I’m pleased I chose this)

A Ken Russell film in fine print. Intricacy and nuance forgoes excess. A progenitor to the biopic that finds Russell working at his warmest and most sincere. 

There are moments in this that are so utterly and completely perfect they can compel you to tears. One such moment is the mountain ascent scene, possibly the greatest thing Russell put on film. People say this lacks the usual Ken Russell extravagance but here you see it all the more potently in the hushed whispers of scenes like this: Jelka smiling in recollection at Delius’ bedside only to cut to her sweating, her face contorted, carrying him up the mountain. A life of complete devotion seared into the pole of a makeshift travel chair. A life of servitude and emotional abuse washed clean by the reward of a final sunrise for her ailing husband. 

Song of Summer is made up of moments like this. I cry every time. It’s perfect.

A Ken Russell film in fine print. Intricacy and nuance forgoes excess. A progenitor to the biopic that finds Russell working at his warmest and most sincere. 

There are moments in this that are so utterly and completely perfect they can compel you to tears. One such moment is the mountain ascent scene, possibly the greatest thing Russell put on film. People say this lacks the usual Ken Russell extravagance but here you see it all the more potently in the hushed whispers of scenes like this: Jelka smiling in recollection at Delius’ bedside only to cut to her sweating, her face contorted, carrying him up the mountain. A life of complete devotion seared into the pole of a makeshift travel chair. A life of servitude and emotional abuse washed clean by the reward of a final sunrise for her ailing husband. 

Song of Summer is made up of moments like this. I cry every time. It’s perfect.

Ken Russell working in miniature for the last time. A gorgeous scaled back chamber piece.

The best of his early Monitor / Omnibus documentaries and dramatisations.

Ken Russell working in miniature for the last time. A gorgeous scaled back chamber piece.

The best of his early Monitor / Omnibus documentaries and dramatisations.