I remember vividly when this movie came to Sydney's Paris Theatre in 1971. I used to work for a cinema chain and received complimentary tickets each week. My mother liked musicals so I took her and my sister to see it. It was rated Suitable Only for Adults, which was fine - we were all adults.
After about the first half hour, my brow furrowed with concern; my mother's favourite movie was "Waterloo Bridge", and this movie was a long way from "Waterloo Bridge". By the time of Glenda Jackson's final encounter with her 'lovers' in the asylum, we were all a bit punch drunk. As we left the theatre, we were probably suffering from a mild form of PTSD. After all, critic Pauline Kael said that the man who made the movie should have had a stake driven through his heart.
However the movie left an impression. Not long after seeing it I read the book it was based on, "Beloved Friend"; the book is fact; the film is fireworks.
As the story begins, Tchaikovsky (Richard Chamberlain), struggles to have his music accepted. He seems comfortable with his homosexuality, but is haunted by past events. However, through convention, and an exaggerated sense of the romantic, he ends up married to Antonina Miliukova (Glenda Jackson) who is so supercharged sexually that his rejection of her sends her over the edge into nymphomania. Hey, a guy had to be able to create great music with that much emotional disturbance in his life.
He finds the perfect relationship with a woman - a platonic one - in his patron, Nadezhda von Meck (Izabella Telezynska). However, unhappiness pushes Tchaikovsky and Antonina on a downward spiral; he to suicide; she to an insane asylum.
Although it's hard to be totally objective about a movie where you are constantly steeling yourself for the next assault on your senses, the film does connect with Tchaikovsky's music whether it's Richard Chamberlain at the piano or sequences where the music is interpreted visually in dreams or flashbacks. Andre Previn arranged Tchaikovsky's work into a cohesive and powerful score.
Richard Chamberlain gives a passionate performance - at once conflicted and sometimes cruel. He dug deep, especially in light of the fact that he 'came out' 30 years later - he was also pretty convincing on that grand piano.
As for Glenda Jackson? Her performance is a showstopper; she ventures where few actresses have gone before - and most probably wouldn't want to. But Antonina's agony, self-delusion, and humiliation gets to us. One scene that wasn't filmed, which would have made illuminating viewing is where director Ken Russell explained to Glenda exactly what he wanted her to do on that grate in the asylum.
"The Music Lovers" is an experience, possibly an unpleasant one for some, however in between the jarring scenes, it's actually a stylish piece of filmmaking.
Of course, the challenging scenes in "The Music Lovers" were just a warm up for what was to come in Russell's "The Devils" a year later. And no, I didn't take 'the fam' to see that one.
After about the first half hour, my brow furrowed with concern; my mother's favourite movie was "Waterloo Bridge", and this movie was a long way from "Waterloo Bridge". By the time of Glenda Jackson's final encounter with her 'lovers' in the asylum, we were all a bit punch drunk. As we left the theatre, we were probably suffering from a mild form of PTSD. After all, critic Pauline Kael said that the man who made the movie should have had a stake driven through his heart.
However the movie left an impression. Not long after seeing it I read the book it was based on, "Beloved Friend"; the book is fact; the film is fireworks.
As the story begins, Tchaikovsky (Richard Chamberlain), struggles to have his music accepted. He seems comfortable with his homosexuality, but is haunted by past events. However, through convention, and an exaggerated sense of the romantic, he ends up married to Antonina Miliukova (Glenda Jackson) who is so supercharged sexually that his rejection of her sends her over the edge into nymphomania. Hey, a guy had to be able to create great music with that much emotional disturbance in his life.
He finds the perfect relationship with a woman - a platonic one - in his patron, Nadezhda von Meck (Izabella Telezynska). However, unhappiness pushes Tchaikovsky and Antonina on a downward spiral; he to suicide; she to an insane asylum.
Although it's hard to be totally objective about a movie where you are constantly steeling yourself for the next assault on your senses, the film does connect with Tchaikovsky's music whether it's Richard Chamberlain at the piano or sequences where the music is interpreted visually in dreams or flashbacks. Andre Previn arranged Tchaikovsky's work into a cohesive and powerful score.
Richard Chamberlain gives a passionate performance - at once conflicted and sometimes cruel. He dug deep, especially in light of the fact that he 'came out' 30 years later - he was also pretty convincing on that grand piano.
As for Glenda Jackson? Her performance is a showstopper; she ventures where few actresses have gone before - and most probably wouldn't want to. But Antonina's agony, self-delusion, and humiliation gets to us. One scene that wasn't filmed, which would have made illuminating viewing is where director Ken Russell explained to Glenda exactly what he wanted her to do on that grate in the asylum.
"The Music Lovers" is an experience, possibly an unpleasant one for some, however in between the jarring scenes, it's actually a stylish piece of filmmaking.
Of course, the challenging scenes in "The Music Lovers" were just a warm up for what was to come in Russell's "The Devils" a year later. And no, I didn't take 'the fam' to see that one.