This is the film Ken Russell regretted he made. He shouldn’t have regretted it.
This is one the greatest fantasy epics ever made. The fact that it’s neither a fantasy nor an epic doesn’t matter. It’s a surrealist landscape painted with outrageous decisions.
Characters behave fantastically: Rudolf Nureyev had never acted before but the amateur naivety of his performance is what the film needs, he’s a physical presence incomparable to the adjacent acting skill of his co stars. He reads lines like it’s the first time he’s read them, as stilted and free of progressional form as Valentino’s unconventional ascendency.
The narrative behaves fantastically: Russell shot each segment in a different style to emulate the fractured nature and perceptions of fame and Valentino’s personality. From this we get a white gorilla in a crimson cell alongside a gorgeously faithful reconstruction of the silent films.
The camera behaves fantastically: This is Russell free from budgetary constraints and it shows. All the pent up excess of previous pictures is thrown up on screen in a dazzling purge. His camera is constantly pushing the narrative. He understands geography and intent better than any other Director- just look at the prison scene in all its disgusting rage- it’s why he’s the greatest of all time.
Colours behave fantastically: move over Spencer, the blu-ray restoration of this film is potentially the most gorgeous film ever made. Maximalism is the natural preset in Russell’s head and every set and every costume (Shirley Russell you genius) explodes in technicolour.
It’s a fantasy in every way. It bares no credence to historical accuracy and realism. Of course I can see why some people would find it exhausting, it is, but so were the times. It’s an exaggeration of the period, reducing the roaring opulence to nauseating onslaught. It’s a Ken Russell film, he’s the master of this.
Valentino may have been Russell’s biggest regret but he was wrong.
This is the film Ken Russell regretted he made. He shouldn’t have regretted it.
This is one the greatest fantasy epics ever made. The fact that it’s neither a fantasy nor an epic doesn’t matter. It’s a surrealist landscape painted with outrageous decisions.
Characters behave fantastically: Rudolf Nureyev had never acted before but the amateur naivety of his performance is what the film needs, he’s a physical presence incomparable to the adjacent acting skill of his co stars. He reads lines like it’s the first time he’s read them, as stilted and free of progressional form as Valentino’s unconventional ascendency.
The narrative behaves fantastically: Russell shot each segment in a different style to emulate the fractured nature and perceptions of fame and Valentino’s personality. From this we get a white gorilla in a crimson cell alongside a gorgeously faithful reconstruction of the silent films.
The camera behaves fantastically: This is Russell free from budgetary constraints and it shows. All the pent up excess of previous pictures is thrown up on screen in a dazzling purge. His camera is constantly pushing the narrative. He understands geography and intent better than any other Director- just look at the prison scene in all its disgusting rage- it’s why he’s the greatest of all time.
Colours behave fantastically: move over Spencer, the blu-ray restoration of this film is potentially the most gorgeous film ever made. Maximalism is the natural preset in Russell’s head and every set and every costume (Shirley Russell you genius) explodes in technicolour.
It’s a fantasy in every way. It bares no credence to historical accuracy and realism. Of course I can see why some people would find it exhausting, it is, but so were the times. It’s an exaggeration of the period, reducing the roaring opulence to nauseating onslaught. It’s a Ken Russell film, he’s the master of this.
Valentino may have been Russell’s biggest regret but he was wrong.
