The Anti ‘Barry Lindon’, ‘Lisztomania’ is Ken Russell’s affectionate and aggressive “Biopic” of the late composer Franz Liszt, arguably one of the greatest piano players and composers of all time.
And the word ‘Biopic’ is certainly doing some heavy lifting here as really, it’s more a platform for Ken to express his feelings towards Liszt (portraying him as the 19th centuries answer to a rock star) but really? this is all a front for Ken’s main goal with this film, which was to (quite rightly) rip the absolute SHIT out of Richard Wagner.
Okay; so maybe thats a *bit* of an oversimplification, Basically the plot follows Lizsts various rises and falls over his career, from being Hungary’s golden child, through his various womanizing exploits (complete with a scene in which he’s portrayed as having an 8 foot long artificial penis which is put through a guillotine) to his eventual spate in the catholic church…
Liszt’s relationship with Wagner was a fractious one, due to Wagner basically spending a good chunk of his career relying on Liszt as a means of promotion and financial stability…made all the more fractious by the fact that Liszts daughter Cosima married Wagner. Richarad Wagner for those in the dark, was a renowned (and somewhat mid) composer who’s main legacy seems to have been that he was a rabid anti-semite and helped lay the core foundations of what would go on to become Hitlers Nazi Party (Cosima lived to promote Wagners work…both in music and racism WELL after his death…Hitler was a genuine and sincere friend of the family…)
Russell is many things…subtle is not one of them. And when I tell you that its clear that he utterly detested Wagner and all that he stood for. Well…if you’ve seen ‘Tommy’ or ‘The Devils’ you’ll pretty much understand that when Ken has the backing of a major studio and an axe to grind…you’re going to be in for a HELL of a viewing experience.
And, for me? ‘Lisztomania’ delivers that in spades, a psychadelic swirl of a reimaging of Liszts life, its colourful, manic, over the top, INCREDIBLY horny AT ALL TIMES. Its a non stop rip-roarer of a production that barely stops for breath across its entire hour and 43 minute runtime. Which works both in its favour, and it’s detriment.
Im just gonna say right off the bat, DO NOT expect historical accuracy here, while there are some key beats that ACTUALLY did happen, this is Liszt’s and Wagners life as viewed through an almost fantasy driven prism. As such, theres a LOT of symbolism, a LOT of implied double meanings and a LOT of ‘creative liberties’. I just wanna make sure noone here leaves a viewing of Lisztomania thinking that Liszt had an 8 foot penis.
The scripts breakneck. Which is great because that sense of restless, manic, unwavering dedication to showcasing a vision is refreshing, engaging and absolutely delighted me. Tonally its camp as christmas and utterly unrelenting in trying to drown the audience in a vat of sequins, prog rock and Elton John-esq set design. Its an utter delight to sit through…if your in the right headspace.
If you’re not in the mood for an aggressive assault on the senses, I imagine it could get pretty insufferable pretty quickly, because its essentially presenting the life of a composer in the style of the ramblings of a time traveller who has 20 seconds to explain an entire 70 year history before being destroyed, a LOT of key information gets left out, a LOT of the film relies on the audience just ‘going with it’ and a LOT of the film is running more on the passion of the film maker, than on actually trying to turn out something that is easily accessable. In that sense, I completely understand why 90% of peoples initial reaction to this is of utter rejection and border disgust.
I however (an ADHD sufferer) reveled in its total disregard to moderate pacing and coherency, I LOVED being thrust from scene to scene like I was being thrown through a series of plate glass windows. I relished the constant swings between over the top hypercolourful set pieces, full frontal nudity and totally random cameos, such as Ringo starr playing ‘the pope’.
It appealed to me on a quite profound level, and the final act (in which the ‘biopic’ angle goes almost COMPLETELY out of the window, as we transform into a ‘Hammer’ movie in which Wagner is a literal Vampire commanding an army of blonde haired blue eyed german children into wanting to destroy Jews) is just astounding. and really quite has to be seen to be believed!
Thats probably the thing I like most about this film, you really cant try to second guess it. Even if your an avid historian, Russell here has managed to create a work where, just as your getting into a groove, he’ll pull the rug from under you with a HARSH veer out of whatever was being progressed into just…some fantastical whimsy thats totally unrelated to what was at hand…again; I totally understand why some would find that frustrating…But I adored it for its total disregard for convention in that sense.
The direction is rich, lavish, with a clear creative drive behind it. Russell here is firing on ALL cylinders and clearly had an itch to scratch. Its a hyperfocussed production that seemed to have all aspects of the cast and crew enthused and ready to pour their souls into it. A decedant piece, I adore the way this thing looks. it’s a constantly evolving work that even at it’s lowest points, is still a total vision to behold.
The cine is sumptuous too, richly dressed sets that have detail for miles are excellently composed with solid sequence building on the editing front that helps deliver a totally unique experience. Every time I rewatch this film I always notice something different. and the amount of ‘phallic’ symbols hidden across every scene of this thing is eyewatering to say the least!
The performances are astounding also! Roger Daltrey is NOT my cup of tea, but as 19th century rock god Liszt, he’s perfect, bringing a cheeky, but thoughtful energy to proceedings throughout, hes animate, vibrant and frankly; I dont WANT to imagine anyone else in the role. Paul Nicholas also delights as Wagner, camping it up RIGHT good and proper, he’s demented for most of the runtime in the BEST possible way. The rest of the cast are solid as a rock, the cameos from the likes of Starr and Rick Wakeman are more than welcome and only further enhance this…UTTERLY bizarre work.
Throw in a score by Rick Wakeman too, which partially runs on his own compositions and partially reimagines Liszt and Wagners works as prog rock electric visions…So good I went and nabbed the soundtrack on Vinyl shortly after catching this for the first time. Its rich, complex and a gorgeous auditory experience.
‘Lisztomania’ gets a lot of negative attention for its total disregard of ‘the rules of cinema’ and its audience. But I find its defiance of those rules, really part of its charm. The fact that Warner Bros are TERRIFIED of re-releasing this film (I own a bootleg Bluray) both confuses and astounds me.
This is rock and roll in every sense of the word, probably one of my favourite Ken Russell pictures, and a MUST SEE for ANY cult cinema enthusiast. its a wild time guarenteed. just…maybe keep Liszt and Wagners Wikipedia articles open while your watching!
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