Just watched my second Ken Russell film last night with a bunch of friends — my previous only viewing had been Altered States.
Man, I’m not even sure what to record here. It was a pretty brilliant film. Absolutely bonkers too. The thing that stands out to me the most is the sense of spectacle, how Russell creates spectacle that is totally captivating and horrifying as is the point — the spectacle was created to control the masses in Loudun (the medieval French city where it was set). In sense, the only reason we are allowed to judge the masses in the film is because they make up the greater spectacle to us, the viewer. But really, what’s the difference?
Other observations: the set was absolutely spectacular. Apparently the stage designer spent three months building it and it shows — it’s like a medieval city mixed with some sort of medical/modern/pure aesthetic, clean white bricks — even as the plague ravages the city. The acoustics are notable too.
The acting. Every single actor was phenomenal, but of course Oliver Reed, Vanessa Redgrave, and a previously unknown actor to me - Michael Gothard - were standouts among the already strong crowd. Reed’s sermons were fiercely passionate and his introspective moments hypnotizing. I’ll have to check out more of his filmography, from Women in Love to The Curse of the Wolfman. Gothard, meanwhile, was the ravenous and basically insane Witch-hunter Barre.
Overall, the aesthetic was somewhere between The Seventh Seal and Grindhouse. My only single complaint would be the incredibly jarring editing in the second-ish act, intercutting between the witch-hunting and Grandier’s introspective journey. It was a bit absurd to say the least, but really in a movie where horrid absurdity is the point (for the sake of illuminating the dangers and hypocrisies of religion, society, and passion) it’s quite forgivable.
Finally, the script. Awesome. A mix of almost academic religious dialogue that’s made Shakespearean by Reed, and straight up badass lines like: (right before he’s about to be tortured) “Devils in pieces of wood now, Barre?” or the Baron’s line (by Dudley Sutton) “I also have a maxim, father: give me three lines of a man's handwriting and I will hang him.” or Louis XIII [shooting a prisoner dressed as a bird] “Bye bye, blackbird! or of course the famous line from the Baron to Grandier: “Hell will hold no surprises for you.” A grand indictment on the whole thing — what difference does hell hold from what Grandier (and all of us) has already experienced?
