hou-3
I just watched The Music Lovers for the first time in decades and thought it still very enjoyable. Glenda Jackson does a wonderful job, and Richard Chamberlain does OK -- the script doesn't give him a huge amount to work with. Full marks to three individuals - Ken Russell for superb direction, Melvyn Bragg for a script which gets a lot across about Tchaikovsky and his times, and Andre Previn (with the LSO) delivering large chunks of the music. Russell put a lot of work into his locations with the Queen's House at Greenwich standing in for St Petersburg and a splendid studio set for Moscow. The country house scenes were filmed at Wilton House and High Wycombe House. All very effective. The music includes lengthy snippets from the fourth and sixth symphonies, the first piano concerto, the Nutcracker and Swan Lake ballets, the Romeo and Juliet and 1812 overtures, Eugene Onegin, one of the string quartets and other pieces which slipped by me. That is a very impressive list! Unlike many people I love the 1812 fantasy sequence though could have done with less of the lunatic asylum. The railway carriage scene is one of my all time favourites, making brilliant use of the Pathetique. To my mind this movie and Women in Love are the best Russell films.
prguy721
The films of director Ken Russell certainly aren't known for restraint, and The Music Lovers is no exception. In fact, every ounce of punch it delivers survives to this day. I recently showed this film, and someone present who was only a child when it came out couldn't believe it was released in 1970. In any case, the tortured life of Tchaikovsky (mostly because of his gay closet-case existence), as intensely portrayed by Richard Chamberlain, creates a compelling story that may not be as historically accurate as it could have been. Even so, it's high on entertainment value, and you won't be able to take your eyes off the screen due to the lavish production values, a grand score by the London Symphony Orchestra and one of Glenda Jackson's many astounding performances. This time around, she's Tchaikovsky's neglected wife. In some ways, she ends up stealing the show as her life completely and shockingly unravels. If anything, regardless of how one reacts to the indelible scenes in the The Music Lovers, the one thing it isn't, is forgettable.
Kevin Tweedy
How can this film NOT be available on DVD in the U.S.? I'd definitely rank it in the top 3 of ALL Ken Russell films (in the same league as "Tommy" and "Mahler") and the combination of visuals and gorgeous Tchaikovsky music is sumptuous beyond belief.If ever a film deserved a Director's cut (was it a stereo soundtrack ? what's that chance of beefing it up to DD or DTS?) this one is IT!I recall seeing this in Berkeley, CA at the cinema on University and being totally blown away. That audience was highly appreciative and it's a pity that the world never really "discovered" this excellent film. (The film was good enough to make me really like Richard Chamberlain -- of course I already adored the fabulous Glenda Jackson and the supporting case, in general is also superb!)
SciFiSly
One could argue that this is Ken Russell's most understated film. That said, it's still a struggle to get through at times though Richard Chamberlain gives one of his finest performances. One senses that for Chamberlain, decades away from revealing his own sexuality, felt a certain kinship to the Tchaikovsky presented in this film.Beautiful music and scenery aren't enough to carry "The Music Lovers" and it falls a bit short as it drags on to it's inevitable conclusion. Still, Russell does a much better job by Tchaikovsky than he would by poor Franz Liszt several years later in "Lisztomania", one of the worst of films of 1975.
AD
