Directing
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was an English film director. He is known for his pioneering work in television and film, and for his controversial style. He has been criticized as being over-obsessed with sexuality and the church. His subject matter is often about famous composers, or based on other works of art which he adapts loosely. Russell began directing for the BBC, where he did creative adaptations of composers' lives which were unusual for the time. He also directed many feature films independently and for studios. He is best known for his Oscar-winning romantic drama Women in Love (1969), the notoriously controversial The Devils (1971), the rock musical Tommy (1975), and the science fiction film Altered States (1980). One noted admirer, British film critic Mark Kermode, attempting to sum up the director's achievement, called Russell; "somebody who proved that British cinema didn't have to be about kitchen-sink realism – it could be every bit as flamboyant as Fellini. He now makes very strange experimental films like Lion's Mouth and Revenge of the Elephant Man, and they are as edgy and out there as the work he made in the 1970s."
Filmography
Twiggy
Film · 2025
The Who: One Band's Explosive Story
Film · 2022
Director of Devils
Film · 2012
Ken Russell: A Bit of a Devil
Film · 2012
The Devils Original on-set footage
Film · 2012
Mr. Nice
Film · 2010
Boudica Bites Back
Film · 2009
A Kitten for Hitler
Film · 2007
10 Best Elgar
Film · 2007
The Real Blue Nuns
Film · 2006
Trapped Ashes
Film · 2006
Brothers of the Head
Film · 2006
Colour Me Kubrick
Film · 2005
Revenge of the Elephant Man
Film · 2004
Agatha Christie's Marple
Series · 2004
100 Greatest Sexy Moments
Film · 2003
Celebrity Naked Ambition
Film · 2003
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
Film · 2002
Hell on Earth: The Desecration & Resurrection of The Devils
Film · 2002
Elgar: Fantasy on a Composer on a Bicycle
Film · 2002
Waking the Dead
Series · 2001
Celebrity Big Brother
Series · 2001
The Real Oliver Reed
Film · 2000
Lion's Mouth
Film · 2000
In Search of the English Folk Song
Film · 1997
Tales of Erotica
Film · 1996
Music for the Movies: Georges Delerue
Film · 1995
The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch
Film · 1995
Empire of the Censors
Film · 1995
Alice in Russialand
Film · 1995
Frank Stubbs Promotes
Series · 1993
Lady Chatterley
Series · 1993
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
Film · 1992
Whore
Film · 1991
Road to Mandalay
Film · 1991
The Russia House
Film · 1990
Plunder
Series · 1990
A British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant Terrible
Film · 1989
Salome's Last Dance
Film · 1988
Ken Russell's ABC of British Music
Film · 1988
The Lair of the White Worm
Film · 1988
Gothic
Film · 1987
Your Honour, I Object! Guccione V Russell
Film · 1987
A Turnip Head's Guide To The British Cinema
Film · 1986
Vaughan Williams: A Symphonic Portrait
Film · 1984
The Who: The Kids Are Alright
Film · 1979
The South Bank Show
Series · 1978
The South Bank Show
Series · 1978
Valentino
Film · 1977
Tommy
Film · 1975
Savage Messiah
Film · 1972
Film '72
Series · 1971
Song of Summer
Film · 1968
Omnibus
Series · 1967
Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World
Film · 1966
Don’t Shoot the Composer
Film · 1966
Russell at Work
Film · 1966
Walk With The Damned
Film · 1961
PuzzleFace
Film