The Music Lovers [VHS]
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VHS Movie Reviews of The Music Lovers [VHS]
Movie Review: One of the best 100 movies of all time
Summary: 5 Stars
An average rating of just 3 stars for Ken Russell's cinematic masterpiece? Scandalous! From beginning to end, this film is an extravaganza of visual delights and narrative verve, as rich and dramatic as Tchaikovsky's music. Every performance is effective, Melvyn Bragg's screenplay is pacy, intelligent and witty. The Music Lovers is quite simply a tour de force, a must-see movie. [....]Movie Review: CONTINUOUS EMASCULATION .....a slight correction please.
Summary: 1 Stars
Whoops!So sorry - I meant to call this movie a "large, calorie filled English TRIFLE" - there's obviously no such thing as an English Triple [unless it's "Sunday, Bloody Sunday"].
also
"Glenda Jackson is one of the most gifted acresses of the 20th Century - no one has [not had] ever reached her zenith" Apology to Ms. Jackson - she's still # 1.
blame it on the tri-focals.
Sorry again.
Movie Review: A Poor Movie on Tchaikovsky's Life.
Summary: 1 Stars
This movie is boring. The director seems more interested in how he can visually direct a scene than he is in Tchaikovsky. Some of the director's scenes are visually fast, or they show nudity with violence. I don't mind some violence and nudity in film. But, I watched this movie because I was interested in Tchaikovsky and nothing else. Some of the scenes might be taken from incidents in Tchaikovsky's life, but the incident is changed and false in the movie. Naturally, people who have no knowledge of Tchaikovsky's life will not know that the movie is not following factual information. I know the movie came out in 1971, and it's now 2001. In the past 10 years, I have read many things on Tchaikovsky (latest books, etc.). There is one book,"Tchaikovsky: Quest for the Inner Man", and it does give a lot of information. It is this information that bothers me because it's not commented on or addressed by its author Alexander Poznansky.
We know that Tchaikovsky lived a homosexual lifestyle, but why? I want to know why he chose that lifestyle, but truthfully even if this means unsympathetically. Tchaikovsky was extremely sensitive and was afraid of intimacy. He was very shy, and did not want to loose too much control. I feel he needed a lot of freedom in his life. Women, to Tchaikovsky, meant loss of control and freedom. IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH SEX! I think, for Tchaikovsky, he could only have physical relations with someone whom he felt wanted what he wanted. Tchaikovsky was very uncomfortable around women. His mother and any other female image from his growing up is the reason for this.
I don't believe Tchaikovsky's homosexuality was observed and learned due to his personality. To Tchaikovsky, women only had sex to gain money or children and not for pleasure. Tchaikovsky was a very physical person, and I think he was curious and interested in women. But, Tchaikovsky just kept playing with the other boys. After all, he was a man, and he knew that men greatly enjoyed sex. Tchaikovsky, I think, might have stayed in this adolescent phase. For him, it was psychologically very difficult to get rid of any childhood memories or feelings regarding women and men. I don't think Tchaikovsky was born homosexual, but he was born with a certain sensitive personality.
He did not want to be married or committed to anyone. He even said that he wasn't sure if he ever loved anyone, and that also goes for the men he knew.
Tchaikovsky even said to his homosexual brother Modest,"... that women can give you pleasure, but it's difficult for me to express this..." Tchaikovsky did not want to be a husband to Antonina, this is true. But, what did he mean when he said "husband"? Was it the sex, or were there other reasons why Tchaikovsky did not want to be a husband to anyone. What did Tchaikovsky observe between his parents?
Also, Tchaikovsky never really explained his "inclinations". Did Tchaikovsky's homosexuality stem from other things? Was Tchaikovsky too selfish or self-centered regarding his freedom or sense of control? Was he afraid that with a woman he might have to compromise too much for them? And if so, where does his thinking come from justified or not?
Tchaikovsky said that he loved his mom in a sick way, but what did he mean? Why did he wish to keep his distance, and not get intimately involved with someone? What were Tchaikovsky's predjudices as he called them, and why did his upbringing make such an impression?
Anyway and how, the book, Q for the I M leaves me hanging. This movie, the M L, does not delve into the psychology of the man. Trying to figure out Tchaikovsky is much more fun than just making wild and dramatic scenes for people to observe.
So, I did not like this movie because it gave me nothing. Although, I agree that Tchaikovsky lived a self-centered life, if the movie tried to portray that. I really wish some director would make a new movie on Tchaikovsky. Let's try it again, and make it interesting!
Movie Review: Not quite as soothing as "Swan Lake"!
Summary: 4 Stars
As you plunge headlong into ANY Ken Russell film, know this: It's strictly a "love 'em or hate 'em" scenario. If you already hate Ken Russell's, shall we say-- unique aesthetic, you'll find this movie repulsive, offensive and unredeemable. However, if you are open to Russell's cinematic approach, you will find this film at turns outrageously hilarious, exhilarating and quite the sensual feast. "The Music Lovers" is one of Russell's most visually beautiful efforts, at times recalling Stanley Kubrick's painterly "Barry Lyndon". There is nothing as genteel about the script or characterizations, however! Richard Chamberlain and Glenda Jackson both give their most fearless performances portraying the "Sid and Nancy" of the classical composer era. Not only does Russell make history "come alive", he reaches out of the screen and gives you a Three Stooges eye poke with his baton for good measure! Jolly good fun for open minds, classical music snobs need not apply.Movie Review: Not a masterpiece, but certainly an excellent film
Summary: 4 Stars
No film critics seem to like THE MUSIC LOVERS, and Cinebook even scored this film 'zero', claiming that this film should be avoided by all 'music lovers'. The film's focus on Tchaikovsky's homosexuality has always been considered inappropriate. While Cinebook scored 5 stars to AMADEUS which places emphasis on Mozart's impudent and vulgar character, I think it should be fairer to this film. THE MUSIC LOVERS is not up to Ken Russell's other masterpieces like WOMEN IN LOVE, but in terms of film-making, this is a marvellous film. In the film's opening, Tchaikovsky (Richard Chamberlain), playing wildly with his sleigh, has a brief encounter with Antonina Milyukova (Glenda Jackson), later his wife. This opening is simply as witty as David Lean's DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, where Omar Sharif has a brief encounter with Julie Christie on a tram in the beginning, not realizing at that time that this is the woman who will become part of his life. Indeed, this is how THE MUSIC LOVERS brings these two important characters together, Nina attending Tchaikovsky's concert, imagining herself having a good time with the soldier she loves, who later turns out to be an abuser. In Nina's imagination and with the 2nd symphony as the background music, Tchaikovsky shoot the soldier dead in a duel for Nina, and the two embrace. Audience will learn that this is Tchaikovsky's fantasy too, resulting in their marriage, which soon becomes disastrous. Throughout the film, Tchaikovsky's music is combined with perfect editing. His 6th symphony is used in the scene on a train, where Nina gets drunk and takes off all her clothes while Tchaikovsky feels sick as he sees Nina's breasts and vagina. The montage here alternating between Tchaikovsky's face of agony and Nina's body is simply perfect. Symbolism is also the key to success for this film. In the house of Madame von Meck, Tchaikovsky's secret subsidizer, fireworks form Tchaikovsky's face, and this is when Madame von Meck finds out about his homosexuality. The fireworks become dimmer and dimmer, signifying the end of their relationship. Now he has to compose without subsidy, and this comes the climax of the film, the use of 1812 Overture, in which we watch Tchaikovsky's fantasy of getting rid of all the people in his life, the canons being used to blow off their heads one by one, again done through the best montage ever. THE MUSIC LOVERS is not at all faithful to Tchaikovsky's life, but which biographic film is? Even LUST FOR LIFE has received the same criticism. When you watch THE MUSIC LOVERS, I think you should be looking for more than just the story itself. Anyway, I have read about Tchaikovsky in encyclopaedia, and I don't find THE MUSIC LOVERS that untrue. The film is not one of Ken Russell's masterpieces, but certainly one of his most stylish. Also, I am convinced that a first-class actress like Glenda Jackson, who won an Oscar just a year before, in WOMEN IN LOVE, would not have agreed to act in a film which she believed to have a bad script. She really sacrificed a lot for this film. Besides showing her breasts and vagina, she even cut almost all her hair for the asylum scene by the end of the film, and this is unquestionably Glenda Jackson in her ugliest. I think such sacrifice should have at least earned her an Oscar nomination, but of course, she was already nominated for another film, SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY, that very same year.