ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

prguy721 The films of director Ken Russell certainly aren't known for restraint, and The Music Lovers is no exception. In fact, every ounce of punch it delivers survives to this day. I recently showed this film, and someone present who was only a child when it came out couldn't believe it was released in 1970. In any case, the tortured life of Tchaikovsky (mostly because of his gay closet-case existence), as intensely portrayed by Richard Chamberlain, creates a compelling story that may not be as historically accurate as it could have been. Even so, it's high on entertainment value, and you won't be able to take your eyes off the screen due to the lavish production values, a grand score by the London Symphony Orchestra and one of Glenda Jackson's many astounding performances. This time around, she's Tchaikovsky's neglected wife. In some ways, she ends up stealing the show as her life completely and shockingly unravels. If anything, regardless of how one reacts to the indelible scenes in the The Music Lovers, the one thing it isn't, is forgettable.

TheLittleSongbird Ken Russell has always been an interesting director, imaginative, eccentric and his composer biographies are quite unique. Some of his touches can come across as distasteful and bizarre(Lisztomania being one of his worst culprits) but The Music Lovers is an example of the ideas being outrageously surreal but rather beautiful but with an equally beautiful story to tell. Along with his Elgar and Delius biographies-where he shows a restrained and more accessible touch- and Mahler also The Music Lovers is one of his best films. The ending is rather rushed, other than that it is a wonderful film regardless of the lack of historical accuracy. Visually, it is both colourful and beautiful with lush costumes and sets and clever camera work that is very distinctive of Russell's style, though it doesn't feel too much of a music video. Tchaikovsky composed some of the best and most emotionally impactful music ever known to man, the music displayed is phenomenal and beautifully performed. As well as being very well-respected, and The Music Lovers really does have some of the best ever meshing of visuals and music in a biographical drama and maybe even with film in general. This couldn't be more apparent in the 1812 Overture scene, where the very striking images create a haunting and hilarious effect(see the cannons for a prime example). The Music Lovers is a very well-written film too, funny and touching, and with a story that engrosses and moves. Russell's direction does show some eccentricity but there is evidence of him also reigning in and showing some subtle(something that wasn't there in Lisztomania for example). Richard Chamberlain really makes you believe that Tchaikovsky was a tormented genius with the many complicated nuances nailed, Tchaikovsky in my mind has only been played better in the Russian film version of his life where the actor also bared an uncanny resemblance to the composer. Glenda Jackson is unforgettable as Nina, not as big or as pivotal a role but is about equal in the memorability factor. All the acting ranges from solid to very good. In conclusion, wonderful film. 9/10 Bethany Cox

smatysia This was a somewhat entertaining film for someone (me) who knew little about Tchaikovsky. I did look up a bit about him, and while you couldn't call this a rigorous biography, it hit the high points. Obviously it was convenient to have all of the music to score the film with in the public domain. The music was fantastic, but hey, it's Tchaikovsky. Outstanding acting performances by Chamberlain, and Glenda Jackson, and Izabella Telezynska. A little quibble with a previous comment. Kenjha wrote "The film includes such silly scenes as Mrs. Tchaikovsky having affairs with Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin to make her husband jealous." My view was that Nina's mother told her that the men in question were Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin, but she knew that they were not. She was taking advantage of her daughter's delusions to make money, more or less pimping her. I found the direction somewhat annoying, and it wasn't apparent at first what scenes were "reality" and which were dream/fantasy sequences. The scene about visualizing the famous 1812 Overture was particularly annoying. But overall, I ended up liking the film.

Tim Kidner Wow! All the dramatics of Amadeus - and then some! That was Mozart, this is Tchaikovsky.To say Mr Russell has a vivid imagination is an underestimation and a half. Forthright film critic Mark Kermode constantly reminds us that Ken Russell is Britain's (or England's, I can't remember which) finest, living director. Mark Kermode often divides opinion and so I assumed that he was wrong.The Music Lovers will knock the woolly old dears off their perches - classical music being so pure and saintly and all that. BUT, it was the rock'n'roll of its day; its blood, sinew and its sex. People didn't always listen to it dressed to the nines in some chaste church or hall. People orgasmed (or would have, if they'd had a record player), argued and got drunk to it. Their protagonists were the rock stars of their time.So, why not have exploding heads to the crescendo of the 1812 climax? Would Tchaikovsky seriously have expected us to want to fall asleep instead? Richard Chamberlaine never puts a foot wrong and I'm so glad that Alan Bates turned the role down. Chamberlaine is both elegant and troubled and cuts a dash that Bates cannot. Glenda Jackson as his fiery nymphomaniac wife is, as always superb. Her intent, to net a trophy husband is never off her radar and the film follows this theme.Boring moments? No - I was entertained, blown away and exhilarated, often all at the same time. The sound quality (at least on my DVD) was amazing, the Andre Previn conducting the London Symphony Orchestra score having a wide stereo and dramatic range. The way Russell montages the increasingly frantic hand-held camera with the music is breathtaking. To get both Previn and the LSO as well as Melvyn Bragg's script shows the obvious cinematic clout that Russell had back then. These were all big-hitters in 1970. Now (apparently) Russell can barely get funding to make anything.The period feel is always believable and feels authentic.So, why not 10/10? Well, while this is as good as Amadeus, that didn't get 10/10 from me, either.