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Altered States (Ken Russell, 1980)
Jan
7
Wed
Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) in his tank. Around him visions of clouds, fishes, the ocean. DP: Jordan Cronenweth.
“I'm a man in search of his true self. How archetypically American can you get?”
– Eddie Jessup
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Altered States (Ken Russell, 1980)
May
18
tea
An almost monochrome man and woman in Edwardian costumes sit at a round table under a parasol. The couple looks out over a field with bright orange poppies. The flowers are filmed through a fisheye lens and appear to be on a grassy green planet.. DP: Jordan Cronenweth.
“She's still crazy about him. He's still crazy.”
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Mahler (Ken Russell, 1974)
Nov
12
World Pneumonia Day
Gustav (Robert Powell) and Alma (Georgina Hale), both in a three piece suit with top hats. She's in a shadows, wearing a tight, black veil that completely conceals her features. DP: Dick Bush.
A sickly #GustavMahler (Robert Powell) and his wife Alma (Georgina Hale) dwell on their shared lives while travelling to Vienna by train. Storylines – circular like a journey, rondo like #Mahler's compositions – drift from the ordinary to the grotesque.
“I don't want to imitate nature. I want to capture its very essence. As if all the birds and the beasts die tomorrow and the world became a desert, when people heard my music – they would still know, feel, what nature was.”
– Gustav Mahler
This would be the composer's final tour. A train took him to a Vienna sanatorium where not much later he'd succumb to #pneumonia.
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Lisztomania (Ken Russell, 1975)
Jun
16
National Richard Day
“No, Wagner! Stay in Hell where you belong!”
– Franz Liszt
