Skip to main content
Ken Russell
Director 1927 - 2011

Ken Russell

Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK

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... Read full bio →

Directed Films

Every film this person directed

20 titles
Whore

Whore

Ken Russell 1991 1h 25m 6.4

This choppy melodrama investigates the life of a prostitute in a pseudo-documentary style. The bottom line of the film is that a life of a hooker isn't easy...

The Rainbow

The Rainbow

Ken Russell 1989 1h 53m 5.0

Four kids embark on the adventure of a lifetime -- the search for the end of the Rainbow.

The Lair of the White Worm

The Lair of the White Worm

Ken Russell 1989 1h 33m 6.2

In a remote corner of England's Peak District, a mysterious skull is unearthed. But even weirder is that Lady Sylvia steals the skull for use in worshiping - very erotically - her pagan god, The White Worm, who hungers for the taste of virginal flesh.

A British Picture

A British Picture

Ken Russell 1989 50m

Moving with astonishing assurance through time and space, Russell recreates his life in a series of unconventional interconnected episodes – his thirties childhood in Southampton; his first sexual experience (watching Disney’s Pinocchio); his schooldays at the Nautical College, Pangbourne; early careers in the Merchant Marine and the Royal Air…

Salome's Last Dance

Salome's Last Dance

Ken Russell 1988 1h 29m

Oscar Wilde watches an outrageous staging of his banned play "Salome" at a London brothel, with parts played by prostitutes, Wilde's host, his lover Bosey, and Lady Alice.

Aria

Aria

Jean-Luc Godard, Ken Russell 1987 1h 37m

This omnibus directors fest brings together 10 different filmmakers making 10 different films based on operatic arias.

Gothic

Gothic

Ken Russell 1986 1h 28m 6.0

In a villa by a Swiss lake, the English poets Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley meet with Dr. William Polidori and Mary Shelley. In a stormy night, while the tenants were telling ghost stories to each other, to two famous novels were born - Frankenstein and The Vampyre...

Crimes of Passion

Crimes of Passion

Ken Russell 1984 1h 47m 7.5

Ken Russell's sordid tale of a sinister street-corner preacher & his affair with a stunningly beautiful prostitute.

Altered States

Altered States

Ken Russell 1980 1h 43m 7.5

Research scientist Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) believes other states of consciousness are as real as everyday reality. Using sensory deprivation, then adding powerful, hallucinogenic drugs, he explores these altered states...and endures experiences that make madness seem a blessing.

Valentino

Valentino

Ken Russell 1977 2h 8m 6.0

In 1926 the tragic and untimely death of a silent screen actor caused female moviegoers to riot in the streets and in some cases to commit suicide...

Tommy

Tommy

Ken Russell 1975 1h 51m 8.0

A psychosomatically deaf, dumb and blind boy becomes a master pinball player and the object of a religious cult.

Lisztomania

Lisztomania

Ken Russell 1975 1h 43m 8.0

In the 19th century, Romantic composer/pianist Franz Liszt tries to end his hedonistic ways but keeps getting sucked back in by his seductive fellow composer Richard Wagner.

Mahler

Mahler

Ken Russell 1974 1h 55m 7.3

Famed composer Gustav Mahler reflects on the tragedies of his life and failing marriage while traveling by train.

Savage Messiah

Savage Messiah

Ken Russell 1972 1h 43m

Biographical film of the life of French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska.

The Devils

The Devils

Ken Russell 1971 1h 52m 8.6

In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier's protection of the city of Loudun from the corrupt Cardinal Richelieu is undermined by a sexually repressed nun's accusation of witchcraft.

The Boy Friend

The Boy Friend

Ken Russell 1971 2h 18m 9.0

The assistant stage manager of a small-time theatrical company (Polly Browne) is forced to understudy for the leading lady (Rita) at a matinée performance at which an illustrious Hollywood director (Cecil B. DeThrill) is in the audience scouting for actors to be in his latest "all-talking, all-dancing, all-singing" extravaganza.

The Music Lovers

The Music Lovers

Ken Russell 1970 2h 3m

Composer, conductor and teacher Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky struggles against his homosexual tendencies by marrying, but unfortunately he chooses a wonky, nymphomaniac girl whom he cannot satisfy.

Women in Love

Women in Love

Ken Russell 1969 2h 11m 9.0

Growing up in the sheltered confines of a 1920s English coal-mining community, free-spirited sisters Gudrun and Ursula explore erotic love with a wealthy playboy and a philosophical educator, with cataclysmic results for all four.

Billion Dollar Brain

Billion Dollar Brain

Ken Russell 1967 1h 51m 5.5

A former British spy stumbles into in a plot to overthrow Communism with the help of a supercomputer. But who is working for whom?

French Dressing

French Dressing

Ken Russell 1964 1h 26m

A deck-chair attendant (James Booth) at a British resort promotes a film festival featuring a French sexpot (Marisa Mell).

Discussion

Loading the discussion…