FEST 2003: Belgrade's International Film Festival

Afterimage, May-June, 2003 by Radmila Djurica

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Women in Love: An interview with Ken Russell.

About Ken Russell, the great English actor Oliver Reed once said: "When I worked with Ken on Women in Love he was starting to go crazy. But in the days when we made TV movies about composers and writers, he was a sane, likable, television director. Now he's an insane, likable, film director." I am sure that devoted film fans. of older generations, all remember Ken Russell's Women in Love, starring Glenda Jackson, Alan Bates, and Oliver Reed. Ken Russell was one of the honored guests at Fest this year.

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Q--"What actors were hard to work with? Was Oliver Reed one of them, who has also got a strong ego, and temperament?"

KR- "I don't remember the actors that I didn't get along with, but there are still some actors that I will never forget: Glenda Jackson and Oliver Reed. Work with them went on with almost telepathic manner. Once we read the script and discussed the characters, there was not much work to be done. But I've worked with Oliver Reed on a number of BBC documentaries, and some feature films. We quickly devised a method of working together. Bearing in mind the speed of the filming and that actors know the story and their actual limitations. We had very short communication, depending on the amount of intensity of the scene. We called it very simple, Moody 1, Moody 2 and Moody 3. With Glenda Jackson I had a completely telepathic relationship. I was shooting a scene in the film called Saloma's Last Dance, and she played the queen and we were just about to shoot the scene after lunch. We were expected that she was studying her role, but when I've knocked on her door, and went in, she was reading a woman's magazine, chewing gum, smoking a cigarette, and listening to jazz on the radio. And I said: "Are you ready for the scene Glenda?" And she asked "What we doing today Ken? ... Ah, no problem." So she took out her gum, put out her cigarette closed the magazine and gave the greatest performance of her life. So, she's special. And that's show business!"

Q--"You were an RAF pilot, a ballet dancer, a photo-reporter, an actor, a director, don't you think that it is time to make a film about yourself?"

KR- "Well, I have already made a film about myself, which I hope you will be able to see one day. It was made for the television. It was based on my autobiography called British Picture. "British Picture" was used by my mother and her sister as a surrogate term when I was growing up. They used to say that they would never go and see a British picture. Any way, the times have changed. It is difficult to make a film about yourself without the film not being pompous. So I have overcome that problem by casting my four-and-a-half-year-old son, Rex. So he went through my entire life, meeting all sorts of problems that I've met while I was growing up. And it went very well; he took directions very well until he was interviewed by a journalist about the film. When he was asked what was the essence of my filmmaking style, he came to the camera, and when I said "action," he said: "Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wander how you are." And I said, "no ... cut that's not the answer. "Satire" is the answer." So the camera rolled on again, and I said "action." Then he said: "Old mother Hubbard went to the cupboard to get to the poor dog a bone and when she got there. ..." And I said "Cut you horrible little beast!" He cried and ran away. Anyway, speak gently to your children. So we gave him some champagne, and after that he felt much better. I told him that "satire" was the answer. So when we said "action" the journalist asked: "So Mr. Russell what is your next film?" He just said: "Satire, satire, satire ..."