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."
50 movies · 9 shows
Twiggy
2025·7.7
The Who: One Band's Explosive Story
2022·8.0
Director of Devils
2012·0.0
Ken Russell: A Bit of a Devil
2012·8.0
The Devils Original on-set footage
2012·0.0
Mr. Nice
2010·6.1
The Aristofrogs
2010·0.0
Boudica Bites Back
2009·0.0
A Kitten for Hitler
2007·4.7
10 Best Elgar
2007·0.0
The Real Blue Nuns
2006·4.5
Trapped Ashes
2006·5.1
Brothers of the Head
2006·5.5
Colour Me Kubrick
2005·5.7
Revenge of the Elephant Man
2004·0.0
100 Greatest Sexy Moments
2003·3.5
Celebrity Naked Ambition
2003·5.0
Hell on Earth: The Desecration & Resurrection of The Devils
2002·6.4
Elgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a Bicycle
2002·7.3
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
2002·5.1
The Real Oliver Reed
2000·0.0
Lion's Mouth
2000·9.0
In Search of the English Folk Song
1997·7.5
Vem Var Dracula
1996·0.0
Tales of Erotica
1996·3.9
Empire of the Censors
1995·5.3
Music for the Movies: Georges Delerue
1995·7.0
The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch
1995·4.8
Alice in Russialand
1995·8.0
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
1992·6.3
Whore
1991·5.3
Road to Mandalay
1991·0.0
The Russia House
1990·6.1
A British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant Terrible
1989·6.5
The Lair of the White Worm
1988·5.9
Salome's Last Dance
1988·6.2
Ken Russell's ABC of British Music
1988·10.0
Your Honour, I Object! Guccione V Russell
1987·0.0
Gothic
1987·5.7
A Turnip Head's Guide To The British Cinema
1986·0.0
Vaughan Williams: A Symphonic Portrait
1984·6.0
The Who: The Kids Are Alright
1979·7.3
Valentino
1977·5.8
Tommy
1975·6.4
Savage Messiah
1972·6.3
Song of Summer
1968·6.3
Don’t Shoot the Composer
1966·8.0
Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World
1966·5.4
Russell at Work
1966·0.0
Walk With The Damned
1961·0.0