Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Dmitry (i) on June 28, 2001 at 12:55:44

Mahler is A Ken Russell film from 1974. It recieved The Grand Prix at Cannes and my $1 at the Tower Video rental.
Ken Russell is a taste like monkey brains. If you have the stomach to eat them, you might like them. If you barf at the site of them, you will probably stay away.
Not being a prude, I watched the whole 2 hour delirium. There are some self-serving directors/conductors/composers/artists out there. Ken Russell is their king:)).
Film is an extravaganza of botched images and absurdity, intermingling with the "reality" of Gustav Mahler's marital life. I almost liked the LSD-like dream sequences, but they were way too long and ultimately tiring.
I admit that some dream scenes were sexually arousing, Georgina Hale{Alma Mahler, presented in the film as a blond pig-tailed ultimate arian fantasy)and Antonia Ellis as Cosima Wagner, the nazi-fishnet stocking big breasted Brunhilda are very apt in Russell's mind-games. That's about it.
Yes, one more thing. The youth of Mahler presented as an exemplary Freudian case history is derived word for word from one of Isaak Babel's stories. Being an intellectual I spotted that right away and it made me feel good:)) I don't think there's a mention of that in credits.
Other Russell's films I've seen are the Lisztomania, The Whore and The Lair of the White Worm. All three in my hipster days. Unless you are high, or inebriated or study at Cooper Union(or all of the above), I'd rather recommend a healthy walk in the park.

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