The Creative Fire of Ken Russell

Ken Russell: A Life

Ken Russell was born on July 3rd, 1927 in Southampton, England. As a child, Russell's closest relationship was with his mother, who frequently escorted him to the cinema after school. At age ten, Russell was given a film projector and his love of projected image intensified. Later on, Russell found a drugstore that rented films by the likes of Fritz Lang and Leni Riefenstahl who were highly influential in developing Russell's dramatic visual flair as a director.

At age fifteen, Ken was sent to Pangborne Nautical College, but he found the codes of discipline overly strict. Movies were to provide solace during his brief time there, as he would sneak out on weekends to attend the local cinema. A hint of things to come occured when Russell produced the schools' annual concert, replete with cadets in drag and big band jazz.

Although Russell's experience at Pangborne was less than successful, he continued his nautical pursuits by entering the Merchant Navy as sixth officer on a cargo ship bound for the Pacific. However, after World War Two, Russell's fascination with the sea had ended and his family assumed he would enter their shoe business. Horrified by the thought, Russell tried to break into the film business, but without success.

In his early twenties, Russell turned his attention to ballet and classical music. For nearly five years he attended dance school and toured with dance tropes, yet in the end he woke up to the fact that he was not a very good dancer.

Then Russell found photography, and it seemed as if he found his niche. Working free-lance, Russell acquired the reputation as an imaginative fashion photographer. In his spare time, Russell started to make some black and white silent films.Russell took one of these films, "Amelia," to the BBC who were impressed by its promise. It was at the BBC that Russell landed a job on the Monitor program, a show on the arts. At first, the films made for Monitor were small in length--ten minutes or so--but eventually Russell would expand the film length to an hour and ultimately feature length. His film on the British composer Elgar became one of the most popular shows in British television history and was largely responsible for the revival in the composer's music. Overall, Russell would make 32 films for the BBC Monitor and Omnibus programs and had established a reputation of being one of the finest directors working in British television.

While working at the BBC, Russell made two films for theatrical release, "French Dressing" and "Billion Dollar Brain." Neither film was commercially or critically successful. However, Russell was given another shot at directing outside of television with "Women in Love." "Women in Love" was not only a landmark for British cinema, but for Russell as well. Not only did it represent a break from television to the bigger stage of theatrical distribution, but it also marked a major turning point in Russell's stylistic evolution as director. As actor Oliver Reed points out, "When I worked with Ken on 'Women in Love' he was starting to go crazy. But in the days when we made TV movies about composers and writers, he was a sane, likable,television director.. Now he's an insane, likable film director."

After "Women in Love," Ken Russell established a reputation as the enfant terrible of British cinema. Movies with bombast and fury, garrish sets and costumes, blatant in-your-face symbolism and