Lisztomania (1975)

Lisztomania: Directed by Ken Russell. With Roger Daltrey, Sara Kestelman, Paul Nicholas, Ringo Starr. Composer and pianist Franz Liszt (Roger Daltrey) attempts to overcome his hedonistic life-style while repeatedly being drawn back into it by the many women in his life and fellow composer Richard Wagner (Paul Nicholas).

“To many, this film is the stunning-proof that director Ken Russell never had it, and that idiocy and egotism were mistaken for genius. You could say mistaking idiocy and egotism for genius has been the appeal of rock music! Others might say that Russell is simply childish or immature, and that his films are the u0026quot;masturbatory-fantasiesu0026quot; of an overgrown-adolescent. This belief is unfounded. Is this film over-indulgent? Yes it is, dear readers, very-much-so, because it is art, not entertainment. That-said, if you chuck any expectations, this is a funny film and allegory about the rise of pop-culture in the 19th Century. It draws parallels between Lisztu0026#39;s fame with the other generally-hollow spectacle known as u0026quot;rock.u0026quot; This is great film-making, and it should be noted that it has similarities between itself and u0026quot;Rocky Horror,u0026quot; and even u0026quot;Hedwig and the Angry Inch,u0026quot; as they all examine and explore the relationships between sexuality and pop-culture in similar-areas. It really is true that women threw their underwear at Franz Liszt during his performances, and that he had many-many lovers–groupies.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLisztomania is an odd bridge-between u0026quot;classicu0026quot; rock and the emergent punk-movement of the time. The film can also be seen as a statement that u0026quot;rocku0026quot; is not really subversive or rebellious at-all, but ultimately arch-conservative, and repressive. Amen. Itu0026#39;s just a hilarious, wild-romp that will make your guests extremely nervous, which films should do. Movies should challenge people to think and reflect–at-least occasionally. Ironically (or maybe-not!), Mr. Russell had contracted Malcolm MacLaren and Vivienne Westwood to design the Su0026amp;M-costumes for his film, u0026quot;Mahler.u0026quot; It should also-be-noted that u0026quot;Liszt-o-Maniau0026quot; was released exactly the same year that MacLarenu0026#39;s shop u0026quot;SEXu0026quot; opened on Kingu0026#39;s Row, the rest is as they say, is history. It couldnu0026#39;t be more camp, it has Little Nell in it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBasically-put, this is about the the ins-and-outs of u0026quot;whyu0026quot; we want and need pop-culture, and WHAT we generally-want from our u0026quot;pop-idolsu0026quot; (sex, of-course). One could easily-say this film criticizes the absurd spectacle that rock had become by 1975, and we get this quite-often in the film. But this theme goes much-deeper, into the relationship-between artist and patron (once, just the aristocracy, now the mob is added). The sexuality is about mass-psychology, too, so Wilhelm Reich gets-his-due, and there is a plethora of Freudian-imagery. It is certainly a very-personal film for Russell, and probably amuses him as much as it does myself that it enrages so-many critics, but it should be noted that some of the absurdity and excess came from the producer of the film, not Mr. Russell. Ken Rusell enrages all the right-people, and thatu0026#39;s what some film-making should be.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGod love this lapsed-Catholic, and God love his ways. A flawed part of his canon, but very watchable and educational. As Russell began his career doing documentaries and impressionistic-films on composers for the BBC, it makes-sense that this is considered one of his most heretical-works. He complains about the opening country-song in his autobiography u0026#39;Altered Statesu0026#39;, and there were other aspects of the production he didnu0026#39;t want in the film. Itu0026#39;s interesting to note that the 1980s was the period of his purest-work, due mainly to a three-picture-deal with Vestron. The 1970s were actually a very mixed-bag for him, as Lisztomania attests. He isnu0026#39;t entirely-pleased with it, but had some fun with the material, and there it is. I think itu0026#39;s a hoot, which means it isnu0026#39;t on DVD.”