Aspel & Company - Ken Russell Interview (1990)

It would seem that the late, great British filmmaker Ken Russell appeared on only a handful of chat shows, I think not because he didn't like talking about himself OR his successful career, but perhaps in that he was often a misunderstood public figure whose work (especially during the 1980's) was mostly maligned by the mainstream press. In person, Ken could prove to be as controversial as his films, and he enjoyed provoking reactions from people and critics alike by playing on the reputation that preceded him. Here he is dropping a few of those bombshells on Aspel & Company with statements like "There was never a British film industry" or "Once an actor, Always a horses arse" all the while sitting next to an increasingly disgruntled looking Sally Field.
Ken also recounts a lovely memory from the making of Women in Love and the night an angry Oliver Reed turned up at his door. This episode was first broadcast on ITV and on 10th February, 1990.

[@bonpourvous]

Always liked Ken, his naughty films being part of my youth, his Elgar 60`s docu was very moving with Nimrod at the end.
I was appalled with his ill advised inclusion on `Big Brother` when it became apparent that no one else on the `show` knew who he was. very sad indictment of modern society, imo.

[@majordolbyscat]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. And I had forgotten Ken appeared on that godawful show.

[@JJONNYREPP]

@@majordolbyscat Aspel & Company - Ken Russell Interview (1990) 0926am 13.4.23 he pioneered the use and abuse of video. ch4 (tv station) followed suit and utilized it as a cheaper alternative to celluloid which will, no doubt, make a come back - for aesthetics are the thing... are they not? enjoyed a few of his films - gothic (excellent), lair of the white worm (a fine horror movie of the vampiric genre), altered states (excellent idea falling flat and flatter the longer the film drags)... Irwin Allen? he made excellent cheese movies... i like sally fields, though. smokey and the bandit etc etc etc

[@nz7222]

Russell was third behind Hitchcock and Lean: Song of Summer Women in Love (The Devils?)

[@ppuh6tfrz646]

Sally Field wasn't impressed, was she?

[@majordolbyscat]

Not in the slightest, she treated Ken like Hollywood treated Ken, with a certain amount of contempt. Bar American finances for Crimes of Passion, and I am pretty sure that's why he went full on looney when he was finally offered to direct across the pond ;)

[@ppuh6tfrz646]

@@majordolbyscat I think Russell was the architect of his own downfall.
Some of his films were so over the top that he damaged his career irreparably.
Lisztomania was the beginning of the end. He was making a film pretty much every year up to the point and then his output slowed significantly - fast forward 25 years and he was making feature films in his house with a camcorder.
I like some of Russell's films, he seemed like a very nice person and I always enjoy watching his interviews but I don't feel he was badly treated by the industry.
He brought it on himself.

[@majordolbyscat]

@@ppuh6tfrz646 I wish we had more rogue directors like Ken today. In my humble opinion the whole industry is stale, generic and moribund, resorting to little more than a box ticking exercise in order to receive funding. I wish someone would actually release those films Ken made later in his career and filmed in his garden with a camcorder for one, it shows his undying passion to express his continued love for the craft, free from financial obligations or conformity.

[@krisscanlon4051]

Ken was unable to strain his art for Western tastes...some could but he wasn't playing any that ever. Others could like Alan Parker but not KR...despite Altered States.

[@ppuh6tfrz646]

@@curiositytax9360 There's nothing wrong with maverick directors but too many of Russell's films were awful and ridiculously over the top.
As nice a person as Russell clearly was, it's hardly surprising that he was shunned first by cinema audiences and then by the industry itself.