Lisztomania!

Ken Russell’s Lisztomania will be, ideally, the first of several “movie nights.”

LISZTOMANIA (1975): Lisztomania is the very portrait of excess. Russell usually delights, astounds and offends with equal measure. Be prepared. Lisztomania is a (very loose) biography of composer/piano virtuoso Franz Liszt, but through a psychedelic pop art lens. It’s awfully campy, and full of elaborate setpieces, musical numbers, and crazy visuals. And, like much of Ken Russell’s work, there’s a strong sexual component too. The tagline said this one “Out “Tommy”s Tommy” and that’s not far off. From the jacket copy:

“The shaggy-maned idol rips into his song — and the audience screams with excitement. Some ecstatic fans storm the stage, wanting simply to touch him. Some want to bear his child. One adoring woman announces she already has. And outside the hall, a horse-drawn carriage awaits to whisk the performer away. Meet Franz Liszt, rock star circa 1840. Courtesy of Ken Russell, British cinema’s most excessive devotee of classical music (The Music Lovers, Mahler, Elgar, etc.) Lisztomania’s story of the turbulent friendship between Liszt (The Who’s Roger Daltrey) and Richard Wagner (Tommy’s Paul Nicholas), otherwise a historical footnote, is writ large to include vampires, groupie superheroes, Charlie Chaplain, Nazis and the Frankenstein Monster… surprise after outlandish surprise! You’ve got to see it to believe it… and by then, you too will be in the thrall of Lisztomania!”

to be preceded by:

“Sombra Dolorosa” (2004): Though this short is by Guy Maddin and not Ken Russell, its blender-style dream logic juxtapositions and savviness of the pop-culture landscape make it an excellent pair with Lisztomania. The following description is from an IMDB user comment: “Widow Paramo has lost her husband, Don Paramo, to the plague. Their daughter Dolores is inconsolable. With death in the air, Dolores is considering suicide, with El Muerto (the eater of souls) preparing himself to welcome her into the darkness. To save her daughter, Widow Paramo must battle the great El Muerto and defeat him. This battle, as with all existential wars, happens in a Mexican boxing ring and takes the form of a wrestling match.”

and

Ken Russell interview from BROTHERS OF THE HEAD (2006): Ken Russell talks about his method of making biography — and eschewing documentary — in this clip from the deleted scenes of Brothers of the Head, a pseudo-documentary based on the novel by science fiction writer Brian Aldiss about conjoined punk rock twins. In the film, Ken Russell is supposed to have directed an exploitation film based on the brothers called Two-Way Romeo.