The Music Lovers (1970)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Ken Russell

Writers:

Melvyn Bragg (screenplay)
Catherine Drinker Bowen (book) ...

Release Date:

12 February 1971 (France)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Plot:

The compelling and bizarre story of Tchaikovsky's life and music. In Ken Russell's own words: "It's...

Plot Keywords:

Homosexual | Tragicomedy | Nudity | Insane Asylum | Incest

Cast

Richard Chamberlain	...	Tchaikovsky
Glenda Jackson	...	Nina (Antonina Milyukova)
Max Adrian	...	Nicholas Rubinstein
Christopher Gable	...	Count Anton Chiluvsky
Kenneth Colley	...	Modeste Tchaikovsky
Izabella Telezynska	...	Madame Nadedja von Meck
Maureen Pryor	...	Nina's Mother
Sabina Maydelle	...	Sasha Tchaikovsky
Andrew Faulds	...	Davidov
Bruce Robinson	...	Alexei Sofronov
Ben Aris	...	Young Lieutenant
Xavier Russell	...	Koyola
Dennis Myers	...	Von Meck, twin
John Myers	...	Von Meck, twin
Joanne Brown	...	Olga Bredska

Also Known As:

Ken Russell's Film on Tchaikovsky and the Music Lovers
Opus 74 (UK) (working title)
The Lonely Heart (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

UK:123 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Company:

Russ-Arts

Trivia:

The extras playing (miming) the orchestra in the scene featuring Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky playing the 1st Piano Concerto were mostly from the Bristol University Music Department Orchestra. They were paid 7 guineas a day (£7 and 7 shillings) each - the extras in the audience were only on 5 guineas. The scene was filmed in the Music Room of Bath Spa.

Quotes:

Antonina Milyukova: He's never loved another woman, has he, mother? No one else. But I, but I have so *many* lovers, so many lovers, so many, so many! See how many lovers, mother! See how many, how many, how many . . .

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Requiem for Krypton: Making 'Superman Returns' (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

THE LETTER SONG

Tragic drama of ill-fated heroes.

One of Richard Chamberlain's most memorable and fringe roles. Glenda Jackson is brilliant. The romance, passion, melodrama, and ultimate tragic fate of the main characters are all intensely portrayed with rich cinematography and the most lavish sets Russell ever used. The film carries that subtle yet omnipresent surreality which is a trademark of Russell's films, and which some find so annoying, and others so seductive and heightening of the experience. A truly wonderful but sad film.