Whatever else one may say about Ken Russell and his films, it must be admitted that no one else makes anything like them. That, in and of itself, is praise of some sort.
Originality is always hard to come by.
Russell delights in the outrageous, the bizarre, even in the tacky. Yet he is a major film talent, with great visual gifts. Which means that whenever Russell makes a new film, you never can tell what you're going to get. Maybe it will be The Music Lovers , Women in Love , Mahler , or Crimes of Passion . On the other hand, it might be Salome's Last Dance or Lisztomania .