Death in Venice
The film included a parody of Luchino Visconti's Death in Venice (film), which Russell disliked. "Dirk [Bogarde] gave the worst performance of his life in "Death in Venice"", said Russell. "His characterization had nothing to do with Mahler. Mahler was never decaying, never sorry for himself, never given to dreaming of the past. The whole thing was a bit cheeky on Visconti's part and very lazy. He played the very same Mahler theme in every scene."