tomsview I remember vividly when this movie came to Sydney's Paris Theatre in 1971. I used to work for a cinema chain and received complimentary tickets each week. My mother liked musicals so I took her and my sister to see it. It was rated Suitable Only for Adults, which was fine - we were all adults.After about the first half hour, my brow furrowed with concern; my mother's favourite movie was "Waterloo Bridge", and this movie was a long way from "Waterloo Bridge". By the time of Glenda Jackson's final encounter with her 'lovers' in the asylum, we were all a bit punch drunk. As we left the theatre, we were probably suffering from a mild form of PSTD. After all, critic Pauline Kael said that the man who made the movie should have had a stake driven through his heart.However the movie left an impression. Not long after seeing it I read the book it was based on, "Beloved Friend"; the book is fact; the film is fireworks.As the story begins, Tchaikovsky (Richard Chamberlain), struggles to have his music accepted. He seems comfortable with his homosexuality, but is haunted by past events. However, through convention, and an exaggerated sense of the romantic, he ends up married to Antonina Miliukova (Glenda Jackson) who is so supercharged sexually that his rejection of her sends her over the edge into nymphomania. Hey, a guy had to be able to create great music with that much emotional disturbance in his life.He finds the perfect relationship with a woman - a platonic one - in his patron, Nadezhda von Meck (Izabella Telezynska). However, unhappiness pushes Tchaikovsky and Antonina on a downward spiral; he to suicide; she to an insane asylum.Although it's hard to be totally objective about a movie where you are constantly steeling yourself for the next assault on your senses, the film does connect with Tchaikovsky's music whether it's Richard Chamberlain at the piano or sequences where the music is interpreted visually in dreams or flashbacks. Andre Previn arranged Tchaikovsky's work into a cohesive and powerful score.Richard Chamberlain gives a passionate performance - at once conflicted and sometimes cruel. He dug deep, especially in light of the fact that he 'came out' 30 years later - he was also pretty convincing on that grand piano.As for Glenda Jackson? Her performance is a showstopper; she ventures where few actresses have gone before - and most probably wouldn't want to. But Antonina's agony, self-delusion, and humiliation gets to us. One scene that wasn't filmed, which would have made illuminating viewing is where director Ken Russell explained to Glenda exactly what he wanted her to do on that grate in the asylum."The Music Lovers" is an experience, possibly an unpleasant one for some, however in between the jarring scenes, it's actually a stylish piece of filmmaking.Of course, the challenging scenes in "The Music Lovers" were just a warm up for what was to come in Russell's "The Devils" a year later. And no, I didn't take 'the fam' to see that one.

moonspinner55 British director and high-powered madman Ken Russell loves turning biographies on their ear, much to the concern of professional film critics (who believe the filmmaker should show more reverence to his subjects). Although this passionately intense drama about the life of Tchaikovsky begins with a linear story and fully-embodied characters, it doesn't take long for Russell to abandon what are essentially bio-pic pretenses and shoot the works visually. 19th century Russian composer Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky is warned by friends and superiors that his dallying with boys isn't respectable; the gossip gets so heated, Peter decides to marry a fervent female fan who's been writing him adoring letters. Unfortunately, their union is revealed to be a sham on the couple's honeymoon and, despite assurances that she'll be patient, wife Antonina is driven mad by unresolved sexual longing. Russell's film, full of glorious music and eye-popping spectacle, isn't all decadence and debauchery. There's genuine feeling for Glenda Jackson's girlish, naïve Nina, and Richard Chamberlain's conflicted Tchaikovsky is the actor's finest hour on the screen. The film's final reel is a fantastic cinematic rush of fever dreams--not necessarily symbolic, perhaps, and not altogether logical (Nina seems to go stark-raving mad in a short period of time). But one doesn't go to Russell for logic; he gives you food for thought in his technique, while the viewer takes in many potent images that leave a lasting impression. No, this isn't the factual story of Tchaikovsky's turbulent life. It's Ken Russell's turbulence that is on display, and that's fine for some of us. *** from ****

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.

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.