Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Violation by AllMovie. British director Ken Russell started out training for a naval career, but after wartime RAF and merchant navy service he switched goals and went into ballet. Supplementing his dancing income as an actor and still photographer, Russell put together a handful of amateur films in the 50s before being hired as a staff director by the BBC. Russell made a name for himself (albeit a name not always spoken in reverence) during the first half of the '60s by directing a series of iconoclastic TV dramatizations of the lives of famous composers and dancers. And if he felt that the facts were getting in the way of his story, he'd make up his own -- frequently bordering on the libelous. If he had any respect for the famous persons whose lives he probed, it was secondary to his fascination with revealing all warts and open wounds. A film director since 1963, Russell burst into the international consciousness with 1969's Women in Love, a hothouse version of the D.H. Lawrence novel. No director who staged a scene in a mainstream movie in which two men wrestled in the nude could escape notice, and thus Russell became more of a "star" than his actors. While some viewers had their sensibilities shaken by Women in Love, others had their sensibilities run through the blender with Russell's next film, . Predicated on the notion that Peter Tchaikovsky and his wife were, respectively, a homosexual and nymphomaniac, the film's much discussed "highlight" is a scene in which Nina Tchaikovsky (Glenda Jackson) allows the inmates in the cellar of an insane asylum to reach up and play with her privates. But this was kid's stuff compared to Russell's The Devils (1971), an ultraviolent and perversely anachronistic adaptation of Aldous Huxley's The Devils of Loudun. Russell returned to his musical theater roots with The Boy Friend (1971), a bloated version of Sandy Wilson's intimate 1920s pastiche, brought The Who's rock opera Tommy to the screen in a visually flamboyant cinematization that starred Roger Daltrey and Ann-Margret, and returned to offbeat biographical material with Lisztomania (1975) and Valentino (1975). The latter film not only suggested that Rudolph Valentino (Rudolf Nureyev) performed totally nude in his silent films, but also offered up the spectacle of Huntz Hall as producer Jesse Lasky. At this point, even some of the most devoted fans of Russell's outrageous (but undeniably brilliant) visual sense were fed up with his shock-for- shock's-sake approach and his all-consuming narcissism. Following the mind-bending horrors of in 1980, Russel maintained momentum with Gothic, a visually lavish retelling of the weekend of debauchery that gave birth to the Frankenstein mythos in the mind of a young female author named Mary Shelley. Though the film may have had its fair share of detractors due to Russel's signature departure from historical fact, it nevertheless aquired a cult following thanks to its heavy atmosphere and dark fantasy. After detailing the exploits of yet another famed author (this time Oscar Wilde) in the 1988 comedy drama Salome's Last Dance, Russel turned out another curiousity in the form of that same year's Lair of the White Worm. Based on Dracula author Bram Stoker's short story of the same name of featuring a memorable performance by a pre-romantic comedy stalwart Hugh Grant, Lair of the White Worm's outrageous, sex vampire excess and near surreal humor earned the effort a proud spot in many a cult movie aficionado's collection. He was back in his old form with 1991's Whore, which conveyed several times over that life on the streets is hell -- then for good measure, said it a few more times. Backed by a childishly slavering ad campaign, Whore brought Russell into the spotlight again for what would be the last time in some while. Dabbling in television for much of the 1990s, may of Russel's efforts during the decade were fairly unmemorable despite featuring such noteworthy actors as Richard Dreyfuss (Prisoner of Honor) and Bryan Brown (). Just when it seemed as if Russel's career may have lost steam for the last time, the ever unpredictable director struck back in 2002 with the unhinged comedy horror musical The Fall of the Louse of Usher. Brimming with the director's trademark debauchery and offering a curious meld of various stories by timeless horror author Edgar Allan Poe, the film may have found Russell back in proper form, but still somehow managed to elude audiences due to both its independent origins and a virtually nonexistant advertising campaign. Russell's last major assignment involved scriptwriting work on Master Class (2011), a biopic of Maria Callas starring Faye Dunaway and adapted from the popular stage play of the same name. The interest that this project pointed to was a long-standing one: Russell had spent many years mounting operas onstage, and in 1988 contributed a segment to Don Boyd's operatic episode film Aria. Russell died in late November 2011, at age 84, following a series of strokes. Violation by Ken Russell. K e n R u ss e ll Writing. UFO over Eden: novels and writings by Ken Russell. Four Composers: Beethoven, Brahms, Elgar and Delius. A quartet of novels about composers- Beethoven Confidential, Brahms Gets Laid, Elgar the Erotic Variations and Delius A Moment with Venus. Beethoven Confidential . This is adapted from his film on Beethoven with Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster and Glenda Jackson which didn't go ahead because the finance disappeared at the last moment. Brahms Gets Laid was premiered on this site as an e-book. Elgar the Erotic Variations . Ken says he has done two films on Elgar but still had more to say and wanted to cover it in a novel. Delius A Moment with Venus . Each chapter is named after a piece by Delius and is written to match the music. "Revenge" of the White Worm. As yet unpublished, Ken's novel from 2003 is based on a filmscript for a follow-on film. With similarities to Cronenberg's Rabid, the female vampire preys on virgin flesh. "And arm in arm they walk off together back into the side door of the British Museum. And as it closes on her, Dolly takes the first step into a world of horror such as even Dracula himself could never have dreamed of". Violation. Ken Russell's best novel, a tale of a 1984 future. "Have your I.D. cards and travel permits ready for inspection," rasped an amplified voice from the CCV as the chilling wail of the siren died away and the back of the black torpedo slid open to disgorge half a dozen official 'Crowd Control Regulators'. To people with long memories they looked very like the typical football hooligans that had given Britain such a bad name at the end of the last century- except they were now condoned. Their heads were shaved, their boots were steel tipped. Brahms Gets Laid. Ken Russell's ebook about composer Brahms. The book is exclusively available through this site. "She came at him out of the mist. Perhaps that is why he did not recognise her at first. And although he had known her for nigh on half a century and lusted after her on more than one occasion, he had never seen her naked before. Not even in his wildest dreams. Her bright hair was loose, as he had not seen it for years. A slight breeze lifted strands of it, as though spinning a gossamer cloak from off her bare shoulders. Her breasts made him weep with loneliness and desire." You can read a chapter from the book, and buy the whole book if you want, from here. Directing Film from Pitch to Premiere. Ken Russell on directing, 2000. What is involved in every stage of the process of making a film. With lots of pictures and anecdotes. Mike and Gaby's Space Gospel. Ken's first novel, 1999. Two robots, Mike and Gaby, seek to create a species that will be intelligent enough to save the robots from a virus (rust) that is killing them. RIP: Rust in Peace. They plant two creatures in Eden and name them Adam and Eve, after their pet Triffids. But things do not go as planned when an alien creature (SATAN- Scientific Aeonistic Technological Angel of Nihilism) interferes. Years later Mary, pregnant, and Joe have their reservation at the Holy Day Inn cancelled so have to sleep in the stables. - Please Salome I'll give you half my kingdom - How about two tickets for Cats - Seeing a bunch of ancient Brits being thrown to the lions doesn't turn me on. The novel was based on a film script Ken had written. The web-page title UFO over Eden comes from this novel. The book is dedicated to Ken's biographer The Rev. Gene Phillips S.J. The Lion Roars. Ken Russell on films, 1993. It is also called Fire Over England: The New British Cinema Comes Under Friendly Fire . This includes an essay on The Wicker Man, one of Ken's favourite films. photo of Ken by Ian Pert, and the scene is from Devils. A British Picture. The American title with an extra chapter is Altered States, 1989. Ken Russell's autobiography from 1989 is enjoyable and informative and worth reading. At the same time he made the television film covering the same material. Ideas for films. A very early article by Ken Russell from his amateur days, 1959. "The images in my mind are all perfectly exposed, there are no scratches, nothing is out of focus, the actors are superb and do everything without being told and the weather conditions are all one could ask for." Click on the arrows for more books. You can buy books in the shop. Film / The Devils. The Devils is a 1971 biographical horror film by English enfant terrible , Ken Russell. It tells the semi-true story of Urbain Grandier (), a priest living in 17th-century France who is forced to defend his town of Loudon from the Roman Catholic church, whose leaders want it torn down. The Church decides to instigate a conspiracy against Grandier, framing him for demonic possession of a local nun, Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave), who is sexually obsessed with Grandier, and the perfect target for the Church's manipulation. Because the film contains scenes like nuns raping a statue of Jesus before having a massive orgy, the film was condemned by virtually every Moral Guardian at the time of its release, and cut to ribbons on various cinema releases. The film remains unreleased on DVD and its US rights holders (Warner Video) have yet to release it. Its reputation may have inadvertently led to the rise of the “nunsploitation” genre in the decade after its release. The Devils. A burning at the stake, an afternoon in the rack, headscrews, a douche with boiling water, nails into hands, induced vomiting, ripped tongues, dead babies, human target practice, possession by devils, rape, transvestism, nude orgies in the nunnery. Put them all together and they spell Committed Art--because these are modern times and I certainly hope none of us is opposed to truth. Now truth, as I've explained before, is what's real. If it isn't real, it isn't true, which is why a stone is better than a dream. If it isn't reality, who needs it? Or could lay hands on it, anyway? And everything on the list above really happened, yes it did. All the events and persons depicted in The Devils are intended to be confused with actual events and persons. How do I know? Ken Russell tells me so. And so I stood in line the other night, my shoulders hunched against a nasty wind off Lake Michigan, waiting to get into the Cinema Theater so that I, too, could ascertain that unspeakable atrocities had occurred in the seventeenth century. I didn't want to be the only member of my generation unaware of the terrible events of 1634, a year that will live in infamy. Like everyone who's committed, I found it my duty to bear witness against the moral outrages or, if not my time, that at least somebody's time. I mean, you can't just sit around. And Ken Russell has really done it this time. He has stripped the lid of respectability off the Ursuline convent in Louden, France. He has exposed Cardinal Richelieu as a political schemer. He has destroyed our illusions about Louis XIII. We are filled with righteous indignation a we bear witness to the violation of the helpless nuns; it is all the more terrible because, as Russell fearlessly reveals, all the nuns, without exception, were young and stacked. It is about time that someone had the courage to tell it like it was about Loudon, a seemingly respectable provincial town beneath the facade of which seethed simmering intrigues, unholy alliances, greed, fear, lust, avarice, sacrilege, and nausea. The story has gone untold for too long. Aldous Huxley wrote a book about it, and John Whiting wrote a play about it, but only Ken Russell has made a movie about it. And make no mistake. The Devils has a message for our time. For we learn from the mistakes of the past. We live in a time of violence, and it is only by looking in the mouth of the Devil that we can examine his teeth. In a time when our nation is responsible for violence on a global scale, it is only by bearing witness to violence on a personal scale that we can bring the war home. I don't know about anyone else, but frankly, I left the Cinema Theater feeling like a new, a different, and, yes, a better person. The poisons of our political system had been drained from me. I entered the theater as an unwitting participant in the atrocities of our time. But believe me, that's all behind me now. It took courage for me to go see The Devils, just like it took courage for Ken Russell to make it. And it took courage for all those folks to congregate in the lobby and lounge of the Cinema Theater before, during, and after the performance. They were ordinary people--kids, students, young folks mostly--you might find living next door. And yet they had gone out into the night to see for themselves, so that the martyrs of Loudon might not go unmourned. Now they spoke quietly among themselves of the atrocities they had witnessed, or hoped to witness soon. Listening to them, I felt we could all sleep a little sounder from now on. If the movie industry had more hard-nosed, tell-it-like-it-is artists like Ken Russell, Loudon might never happen again. Roger Ebert. Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. Miami police officer accused of intimidating early voters. A Miami police officer has been accused of intimidating voters at an early polling place, where he was pictured in uniform wearing a Trump 2020 face mask. The Miami police chief and mayor both called the officer's actions "unacceptable," and the officer faces disciplinary action. Steve Simeonidis, the chairman of the Miami-Dade Democrats, tweeted a photo of the officer on Tuesday as he was at a polling place inside the Stephen P. Clark Government Center in Miami. The photo shows the officer in full uniform -- including his badge and gun -- wearing a coronavirus face mask that appears to say "No more bullsh**" underneath the "Trump 2020" logo. Simeonidis called the incident "city-funded voter intimidation," and said the officer should be suspended immediately. Here is @CityofMiami Police Officer Daniel Ubeda, in full uniform with badge and gun wearing his Trump mask inside of the polling location in government center. This is city funded voter intimidation. Ubeda should be suspended immediately. pic.twitter.com/TbJxu6mcem -- Steve Simeonidis (@stevesimeonidis) October 20, 2020. The name tag on the officer's uniform seen in the photo reads "Ubeda," but the Miami Police Department has not confirmed the officer's identity to CBS News. The department said it's investigating the incident, but did not specify what punishment the officer may face. "We are aware of the photograph being circulated of a Miami Police officer wearing a political mask in uniform," the department tweeted Tuesday. "This behavior is unacceptable, a violation of departmental policy, and is being addressed immediately." According to Miami PD's policies, officers "shall not interfere with or make use of the influence of their office for political reasons, nor shall they take part in any political activity" while working. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez condemned the actions of the officer, just one day after holding a press conference about ensuring there would be no voter intimidation at the polls. "I have spoken to [Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina] and we agree that the officer's behavior is unacceptable," Suarez said Tuesday. "This was a violation of departmental policy. He is under investigation and disciplinary measures will be taken." I have been in touch with the Chief and he agrees that police presence at polling locations and political speech as part of the uniform are completely unacceptable. https://t.co/8McVd2O7tM -- Ken Russell Miami (@kenrussellmiami) October 20, 2020. Officials confirmed that the officer was voting early and not on duty; officers are allowed to vote in uniform, but aren't permitted to wear anything affiliated with a political party. "You will not see anyone in any sort of military garb or uniform as that is illegal, you will not see open carry at a polling location as that is illegal," Miami Commissioner Ken Russell said at Monday's press conference, ahead of the incident. Police "will not have a visible presence because that in itself could be construed by some as intimidating. So the police will not be at the polling location in uniform." Russell told CBS Miami that all government workers were sent reminders on Tuesday that they should not participate in any political activities while on duty. The campaign for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden released a statement Wednesday addressing the "ongoing tactics in Florida" to intimate voters. "In the United States of America, we cannot and will not stand for any behavior that could intimidate voters from participating in our democracy," Biden for President Florida communications director Carlie Waibel told CBS Miami. "Our country stands for freedom, liberty, and democracy, and these scare tactics have no place in our state. It's clear that those running scared will try anything in the closing weeks of the election. There are no excuses for this behavior. We are committed to making sure every Floridian can vote and every vote is counted."