Delius - Song Of Summer
1968
Ken Russell's made-for-television biopic focuses on the life of composer Frederick Delius (Max Adrian). This subdued movie is widely considered to be one of Russell's finest films. Read more
| Starring | Max Adrian, Christopher Gable, David Collings, Ken Russell |
|---|---|
| Director | Ken Russell |
| Genres | Drama |
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Delius - Song Of Summer
Ken Russell's made-for-television biopic focuses on the life of composer Frederick Delius (Max Adrian). This subdued movie is widely considered to be one of Russell's finest films.
| Starring | Max Adrian, Christopher Gable, David Collings, Ken Russell |
|---|---|
| Director | Ken Russell |
| Studio | BFI VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 12 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: not available Production year: 1968 |
| Format | DVD |
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Most helpful member's review
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6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
Songs of summer shall sound as sweet
From an age of television geologically distant from our own, this biography of the composer Frederick Delius is by controversialist and full-blown English eccentric Ken Russell. It's an early example of the drama-doc form - a genre now all over the schedules. The form is Russell's attempt to meld a conventional arts programme with the emotional insights a drama can give. The result is memorable, peculiar, and compelling. Vivid black and white photography and performances that are unsettling in their spareness and directness add to the film's atmosphere.
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Most recent members' review
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
The Heart of a Composer
I think this is Ken Russell's finest film although it was early (1960s)and for television and it's a bit rough round the edges. In black and white, it doesn't have the colour of 'The Devils' and 'The Music Lovers' but it has the same extraordinary power. This is a film that depicts altruism. It's a completely faithful and true depiction taken from Eric Fenby's account 'Delius, As I Knew Him'. A young quiet Catholic boy leaves the Yorkshire countryside to spend four years with an old dying blind atheistic composer. Together they occupy that sacred world where great music is created and Fenby is changed forever. Ensure you watch the second copy of this film on this same DVD as it has Ken Russell imparting some most interesting information not only about the making of the film but about his collaboration with Fenby.
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Copying Beethoven
- 13 Aug 2007
With few exceptions, films about the great composers have been a rum bunch. Grieg got the egregious Song of Norway. Ken Russell did well by Delius in Song of Summer, okay by Tchaikovsky in The Music Lovers, so-so for Mahler, then perpetrated Lisztomania, with Roger Daltrey as Franz Liszt, Paul Nicholas as Wagner, and Ringo Starr as the Pope. And of course, Tom Hulce played Mozart as a braying adolescent in Amadeus. Stern, deaf old Beethoven has mostly been given a wide berth by filmmakers,... Read more
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Delius - Song Of Summer
Ken Russell's made-for-television biopic focuses on the life of composer Frederick Delius (Max Adrian). This subdued movie is widely considered to be one of Russell's finest films....
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