Savage Messiah

I remember seeing this in theaters in the early seventies ( it never seems to be on television nor is it available on DVD). The two scenes I remember best were Dorothy Ttin savagely cutting up vegetables and Helen Mirren's Gosh Boyle descending the staircase nude in all her youthful and voluptuous glory. What a memorable moment. The rest of the film seemed to be about this modern sculptor/welder/whatever who had the typical artistic characteristics of ego and insensitivity. I remember that Helen Mirren's character was not exactly admirable but she was so stunning in that staircase scene that I did not care. Mirren has since ( and before in Age of Consent) done some great nude or semi-nude scenes but this is the one she will be remembered for.

Ken Russell made entertaining films; you would be unlikely to fall asleep during your first viewing of any of them. He was at the top of his game in the 1970s when 'Savage Messiah' was made (his previous film was 'The Boy Friend' starring Twiggy). This one is a biopic about French artist/sculptor Henri Gaudier portrayed here as unconventional, out-of-control, over-the-top, and his love for an older Polish woman writer. She is played by Dorothy Tutin who wins the film's acting honours hands down. The DVD released by Warner in 2011 has moments where the sound is slightly out of sync, especially during Helen Mirren's scenes; perhaps the editors were thinking about something else. Ms Mirren, in her late-20s here, cuts a striking figure as a suffragette and obliges us by appearing in her birthday suit.

It's about art and the love for art, but not artistically shot as other Russell films. On a scale from 1 to 10( Lisztomania being 10, the maximum Russell), this one is probably a 3. The two main characters has an unique and interesting relationship, but not amicable since they are both loud, rude and crazy. They are annoying and not very enjoyable to watch. For someone who lives in NYC, they do remind me of the frantic hipsters I see on the streets everyday... On a scale from 1 to 10( Women in Love being 10, the maximum enjoyable, for me anyways), this one is likely a 3 also. However after some research I found out that both of them have mental illness(No way!). I wish I knew that before so maybe I would have enjoyed the movie more? The lines are very good, values too(10 outta 10), if you love art you are bond to adore this movie, one way or another.

Ken Russell always has been a controversial film-maker, interesting and unique certainly but did have a tendency to resort to excess that could cheapen things. If we exclude his composer documentaries on Elgar, Delius and Debussy(wasn't crazy about the one on Richard Strauss), which are even better than any of his feature films, Savage Messiah is an underrated film. Maybe it could have had more time to breathe in places, while the deliberate pace was very effective there was a tendency to have a restless vibe, and more could have been done with Gaudier's war-time experiences, it was still affecting but compared to the love relationship it did seem on the brief side. However, it does rank alongside Women in Love, The Devils, The Music Lovers and Mahler as one of his better films(of his feature films the only one that I'm iffy about is Lisztomania). It is opulently and atmospherically filmed- if not as much as Valentino or The Music Lovers- and the production values are just as much and even more so. The classical music doesn't feel too much of a hodge-podge and is placed remarkably well, not feeling misplaced. Debussy is the most frequently used, and the impressionist style of his music is beautiful and powerful and judging from how many times his music has been used in his films Russell seems to think so as well. The script is dialogue-heavy and that it was very articulate and had genuine bite too is most admirable with a healthy balance of comedy and tragedy, while the story always engages and the platonic love relationship is told with emotion, while not exactly warm it's hardly hollow, and a sense of fun. Russell's direction is ideal for the subject matter and the story that's been told, like with Valentino for example you can tell he was having fun directing but he also does so with restraint, especially when being compared to Tommy or Lisztomania. There are some great touches here, those who say Helen Mirren's staircase scene is unforgettable are absolutely right, matching Leslie Caron's funeral scene entrance in Valentino in sensuality. The vegetable chopping scene is just as savage as the dialogue and you cannot fail to be moved by the final tragic 10 minutes. The performances while theatrical are fine, Scott Anthony does overact at times but carries the film excellently. Dorothy Tutin is superb as is Helen Mirren(one of those women who still does look amazing, always a standout at awards ceremonies). Overall, one of Russell's better films and deserving of more recognition, it is nice to see though that there are people who remember it very fondly. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Among the best of Ken Russell's films, this work probes, again, the nature of artistic genius, the mores of artists during the last 150 years and, especially, the proximity of this form of genius to psycho-pathology. During this period-- 1968 to 1975-- the period of Russell's greatest popularity, infamy and exposure coincided with a formative period of my life. He was ' a god of my adolescence.' This is a powerful and important film, based on Ede's book. If you have the opportunity to go to England, visit Ede's house, now a museum, in Cambridge city. The Kettle's Yard.