The Music Lovers (1971)

I wanted to but couldn't!

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Ken Russell has always been an interesting director, imaginative, eccentric and his composer biographies are quite unique. Some of his touches can come across as distasteful and bizarre(Lisztomania being one of his worst culprits) but The Music Lovers is an example of the ideas being outrageously surreal but rather beautiful but with an equally beautiful story to tell. Along with his Elgar and Delius biographies-where he shows a restrained and more accessible touch- and Mahler also The Music Lovers is one of his best films. The ending is rather rushed, other than that it is a wonderful film regardless of the lack of historical accuracy. Visually, it is both colourful and beautiful with lush costumes and sets and clever camera work that is very distinctive of Russell's style, though it doesn't feel too much of a music video. Tchaikovsky composed some of the best and most emotionally impactful music ever known to man, the music displayed is phenomenal and beautifully performed. As well as being very well-respected, and The Music Lovers really does have some of the best ever meshing of visuals and music in a biographical drama and maybe even with film in general. This couldn't be more apparent in the 1812 Overture scene, where the very striking images create a haunting and hilarious effect(see the cannons for a prime example). The Music Lovers is a very well-written film too, funny and touching, and with a story that engrosses and moves. Russell's direction does show some eccentricity but there is evidence of him also reigning in and showing some subtle(something that wasn't there in Lisztomania for example). Richard Chamberlain really makes you believe that Tchaikovsky was a tormented genius with the many complicated nuances nailed, Tchaikovsky in my mind has only been played better in the Russian film version of his life where the actor also bared an uncanny resemblance to the composer. Glenda Jackson is unforgettable as Nina, not as big or as pivotal a role but is about equal in the memorability factor. All the acting ranges from solid to very good. In conclusion, wonderful film. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This was a somewhat entertaining film for someone (me) who knew little about Tchaikovsky. I did look up a bit about him, and while you couldn't call this a rigorous biography, it hit the high points. Obviously it was convenient to have all of the music to score the film with in the public domain. The music was fantastic, but hey, it's Tchaikovsky. Outstanding acting performances by Chamberlain, and Glenda Jackson, and Izabella Telezynska. A little quibble with a previous comment. Kenjha wrote "The film includes such silly scenes as Mrs. Tchaikovsky having affairs with Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin to make her husband jealous." My view was that Nina's mother told her that the men in question were Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin, but she knew that they were not. She was taking advantage of her daughter's delusions to make money, more or less pimping her. I found the direction somewhat annoying, and it wasn't apparent at first what scenes were "reality" and which were dream/fantasy sequences. The scene about visualizing the famous 1812 Overture was particularly annoying. But overall, I ended up liking the film.

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!)

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.