The Devils (1971) (Ken Russell) Discussion Thread

[Wes]

Originally Posted by Michael Brooke

However, Dance of the Seven Veils is still technically banned until New Year's Day 2020, unless Richard Strauss's family changes its collective mind - which, given what the film says about their distinguished ancestor, is a tad unlikely. There's a lousy print on YouTube, though.

Many thanks Michael... I totally missed the coverage so. Yes, it was wishful thinking on my part re Seven Veils - I knew there was some impedement to it's release/transmission - I think it was mentioned when the Ken Russell At the BBC boxset was released in the US.

[Michael Brooke]

Originally Posted by Wes

Yes, it was wishful thinking on my part re Seven Veils - I knew there was some impedement to it's release/transmission - I think it was mentioned when the Ken Russell At the BBC boxset was released in the US.

Yes, it was originally going to be included - and then they presumably tried to clear the underlying rights for commercial distribution.

The problem with that film from a legal perspective is that there's barely a frame that doesn't make use of copyrighted Richard Strauss material. So determined was Russell to put the boot in to the composer that he made sure that everything Strauss uttered on screen was sourced from his own copyrighted texts - so you can't even show clips of the non-musical scenes without getting into legal difficulty.

In 1988, Russell tried to clear the rights to Strauss's opera 'Salomé' in order to use an extract in Salomé's Last Dance. The Strauss estate normally has no problem with licensing such usage - as we all know from 2001: A Space Odyssey - but when they found out who the director was, they refused point blank. And that was nearly twenty years after the first and only legal screening of Dance of the Seven Veils!

But Strauss died in 1949, so provided there isn't another change to EU copyright laws the film will become legal again on New Year's Day 2020. Annoyingly, it would be legal now if the term hadn't been extended in the 1990s from fifty to seventy years after the death of the creator of the copyrighted work.

[Michael Brooke]

And of course we have a very similar situation with Warner Bros and The Devils. In fact, in many ways it's worse, as they own the film outright (not unreasonably, since they paid for it), and for various reasons the copyright won't expire for several more decades.

At least in this case we're getting 98% of the longest version of the film, which is one hell of a lot better than the Dance of the Seven Veils situation - but it just goes to show how messily intractable things can get when the rightsholder and the artist are not only separate individuals/organisations but don't get on!

[Wes]

Originally Posted by Michael Brooke

It just goes to show how messily intractable things can get when the rightsholder and the artist are not only separate individuals/organisations but don't get on!

Agreed. I was sure Scorpio Rising would never see an official release with that soundtrack but I was happily proved wrong when Fantoma put out their Anger collection. I think some of John Waters early films have problems with the songs of their soundtracks, and the DVD release of Altman's California Split had it's soundtrack tweaked for rights issues, so it's a tricky business...

[sjconstable]

Originally Posted by Michael Brooke

Russell's death got tons of coverage - obits on the BBC and Channel 4 News (I daresay ITN too, but I didn't watch that) plus lengthy eulogies in the press.

Yeah also ones from Pitchfork.com and Roger Ebert came up on my FB News Feed.

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

I thought the sports guy's comments were funny when told they'd be doing a Ken Russell tribute.....

'Will you be allowed to show any? Perhaps the begining and end credits?'

Russell would have loved that!

[Jon T]

Good that they are including his first short film, 'Amelia and the Angel'.

[Michael Brooke]

Originally Posted by Jon T

Good that they are including his first short film, 'Amelia and the Angel'.

It's not his first (Peep Show, Knights on Bikes and the unfinished Lourdes preceded it), but it's the one that made his reputation and got him a job at the BBC.

And it's a really delightful little film - I know £200 stretched a lot further in 1958 than it would now, but it's still a minuscule budget for a 30-minute short, and proof of Russell's ability to create visual miracles with next to no resources.

[Wes]

Just out of interest, has anyone read the Aldous Huxley novel ?

[Jon T]

Originally Posted by Michael Brooke

It's not his first (Peep Show, Knights on Bikes and the unfinished Lourdes preceded it), but it's the one that made his reputation and got him a job at the BBC.

And it's a really delightful little film - I know £200 stretched a lot further in 1958 than it would now, but it's still a minuscule budget for a 30-minute short, and proof of Russell's ability to create visual miracles with next to no resources.

Are those early films available, Michael? It would be interesting to see them.