DIRECTED BY KEN RUSSELL
Perhaps director Ken Russell’s most flamboyant film, “The Music Lovers,” is a landmark in early 1970s Queer Cinema but for all the wrong reasons. Although notable for its frank (if stylized) depiction of Tchaikovsky’s sexuality, it’s one vulgar over-the top Russell sequence after another. MTV avant la lettre. The “1812 overture” montage, a delirious mix of sexual frustration and nationalistic bombast, is for Russell freaks only.
THE “1812 OVERTURE” MONTAGE, A DELIRIOUS MIX OF SEXUAL FRUSTRATION AND NATIONALISTIC BOMBAST, IS FOR RUSSELL FREAKS ONLY!
Starring gay actor Richard Chamberlin as the gay composer, the film concentrates on the year 1877, when he entered into a disastrous bearded marriage of convenience. Glenda Jackson’s Nina is portrayed as both victim and villain and Jackson, the actress, is debased on every possible level. You feel for her. The train sequence alone is grounds for an artistic lawsuit.
Chamberlin gives what can only be called a non-performance. All ham and no depth. A noted pianist, however, he does wonders on the piano
The screenplay, if you can call it that, is by Melvyn Bragg. The gorgeous cinematography is by Douglas Slocombe.
STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME, APPLE TV and YouTube
Sixty-Eight Queer Films Made Under the Hays Code (1934-1967)
Sixty-Eight Queer Films Made Under the Hays Code (1934-1967) Table Summary
https://thebrownees.net/sixty-nine-queer-films-of-the-new-hollywood-1967-1981
Sixty-nine-Queer Films of the New Hollywood (1967-1981) Table Summary
