Quote of the day

"'Wake 'em up' was generally his watchword, and it was certainly true that you could seldom go to sleep in a Russell film. If you did, you had nightmares."

Derek Malcolm of the Guardian on Ken Russell, who died yesterday.

As someone with a PhD in D H Lawrence, I find it telling that many if not most people's first thought when the author's name is mentioned is not a particular book but the infamous naked fireside wrestling scene between Oliver Reed and Alan Bates in Russell's film adaptation of Women in Love.

I should add that Russell's The Devils - a striking portrayal of lust and corruption and another literary adaptation, this time of Aldous Huxley's The Devils Of Loudon - was one of the first films I reviewed on this blog, almost nine years ago to the day.