The Music Lovers is perhaps the most controversial of the films Richard has made. And, like The Last Wave, it was ahead of its time. At its release in 1971 it was considered a deeply shocking film for Dr. Kildare to make and was generally savaged by the critics. I remember Richard and Glenda making the talk show circuit in 1971 and the stunned reaction of the talk show hosts to the film clips. Yet another of Richard’s films I never got to see until the miracle of VHS came along.

The film concentrates equally on Tchaikovsky’s tormented homosexuality and his hauntingly beautiful music. Academy Award winner Glenda Jackson, who plays the tragic Nina, was the reigning actress of her time. (Unfortunately, Glenda went on to abandon acting for politics, leaving today’s cinema populated mostly by vapid, anorexic and boring cookie cutter actresses.) There is nothing boring about this film. If you are snobbish about classical music or prudish about sex, do not watch. The movie is not intended as a serious biography of Tchaikovsky. But then, neither was Amadeus intended to be a serious biography of Mozart.

Ken Russell summed up the plot of The Music Lovers as the story of a nymphomaniac married to a homosexual. Fairly accurate summation of the plot! The film provides plenty of opportunity for Russell’s legendary imagery, which is even more effective set to Tchaikovsky’s music. My favorite musical sequence is the nightmare/dream rendition of The 1812 Overture.

This movie probably would not have worked with any actors but Richard and Glenda. Richard’s physical beauty and sullen desperation play off perfectly against Glenda’s artful homeliness and manic energy. The two descend into madness as the façade of their marriage disintegrates. Tchaikovsky is redeemed by his music and the asexual worship of his patroness while Nina is abandoned to the horrors of an insane asylum.

Christopher Gable (who later returns for a happier role as John in the Slipper and the Rose) plays Count Anton Chiluvsky, Tchaikovsky’s lover and ultimate betrayer. A superbly played scene occurs when he meets up with Tchaikovsky and Nina on their honeymoon at a performance of Swan Lake and provides a running, ironic commentary for the uncultured Nina (“She will destroy him…”)

The Music Lovers is a marvelous and sadly neglected film. Keep your fingers crossed that it comes out on DVD someday.

By Geri Maisano

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