IMDb RATING
6.9/10
1.7K
YOUR RATING
Biographical movie of the French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska.Biographical movie of the French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska.Biographical movie of the French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 nomination total
Allan Corduner
- Newspaper vendor outside library
- (uncredited)
Harry Fielder
- Angry Man in Crowd
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaEarly in this movie, Henri Gaudier (Scott Antony) is seen in the employ of a certain Mr. Saltzman (Otto Diamant), who hires him, not to create original works as he would like, but to make copies of other people's work. This may be a private joke on producer and director Ken Russell's part, as the producer Harry Saltzman had some years earlier hired him, ostensibly with a view to producing one of Russell's personal projects (a movie about Tchaikowsky), but in fact to make the third movie in the "Harry Palmer" film franchise, Billion Dollar Brain (1967). Russell eventually made the Tchaikowsky movie (The Music Lovers (1971)) without Saltzman.
- GoofsSophie, a native speaker of Polish, is shown mispronouncing the Polish word rysowac' 'to draw': she says REE-so-vak although the correct Polish pronunciation is (approximately) rih-SOH-vats' (with the final -ts' sound pronounced palatalized, almost like -tch).
- Quotes
Sophie Brzeska: My book is about sleep; that thick oily substance. Under the surface you float; half dreaming, half waking. Hidden, you hope, yet the world comes though. You cannot imagine the ways I've evolved to abolish myself there... under the surface. Half sleeping. Half waking. Leaving your worries and your clothes asleep. But the rent never sleeps and time never sleeps.
- ConnectionsFeatured in A British Picture (1989)
- SoundtracksTWO FLEAS
Composed by Dorothy Tutin
Featured review
A wild Ken Russell biopic.
Savage Messiah is perhaps the least famous of Ken Russell's biopics from the early-to-mid 70s. He made films about Tchaikovsky (The Music Lovers), Lizst (Lizstomania), and Mahler (Mahler) during this period, and in this offering his subject is the French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. Gaudier-Brzeska, though not a household name, is certainly an interesting character and this film is a worthwhile experience for anyone who wants to find out more about him, or anyone who has an interest in his career.
It is, however, typically erratic and in-your-face, as most of Russell's pictures are. There's sex and nudity, lots of bitter and angry dialogue, and heaps of soul searching. In real life, Gaudier-Brzeska married a Polish noblewoman twenty years his senior and was tragically killed during WW1. Russell revels in exploring the complexity of their relationship, but he makes little of Gaudier-Brzeska's wartime experiences (which in actual fact might have been well worth showing in more detail).
I like this film because it is fast-paced, unconventional and witty. Having said that, I wouldn't put it in my list of all time favourites because it lacks warmth and narrative clarity. It's not as intense as Russell's The Devils, but it stands alongside that film of one of his better motion pictures.
It is, however, typically erratic and in-your-face, as most of Russell's pictures are. There's sex and nudity, lots of bitter and angry dialogue, and heaps of soul searching. In real life, Gaudier-Brzeska married a Polish noblewoman twenty years his senior and was tragically killed during WW1. Russell revels in exploring the complexity of their relationship, but he makes little of Gaudier-Brzeska's wartime experiences (which in actual fact might have been well worth showing in more detail).
I like this film because it is fast-paced, unconventional and witty. Having said that, I wouldn't put it in my list of all time favourites because it lacks warmth and narrative clarity. It's not as intense as Russell's The Devils, but it stands alongside that film of one of his better motion pictures.
- barnabyrudge
- Jan 22, 2003
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Details
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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