Film: Ken Russell’s Mahler (1974)
Thursday, May 18, 2023 | 7 PM | $5-10
The Boedecker Theater at the Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder

Ken Russell (1927 – 2011) is best known for his Oscar-winning films Women in Love (1969), The Devils (1971), The Who’s Tommy (1975), and the science fiction film Altered States (1980). Russell’s Mahler is an interesting, if not factually accurate, look at our beloved composer. That the film is not universally loved is an understatement with one reveiwer writing that it is “guaranteed to offend at least half the people who see it.”

Cinematically, it is a work of art. “Visually the film is a feast, notable for its dazzling and pointed use of color and movement.” It earns the ire of many Mahlerites for being overly creative with the facts. “Never one to dwell on facts or chronological limiations, Russell set out to capture the spirit of his subject rather than any textbook accuracy.”

Mahler can perhaps best be described as a very creative interpretation of Mahler’s life. One Mahlerite put it this way, “It’s a great music video, which Russell should have subtitled: ‘What I think About When I Think About Mahler Thinking About Music.’ It’s not a biography, just a series of a listener’s impressions.”

Come and judge for yourself!