THE MUSIC LOVERS
UK, 1970, 122 minutes, Colour.
Richard Chamberlain, Glenda Jackson, Christopher Gable.
Directed by Ken Russell.
The Music Lovers is an extraordinary attempt to tell something of Tchaikovsky’s life in terms of his music. Many of the sequences of this film are not straight biography but imaginative reconstruction of what was, or might have been, visualised on screen to the rhythm and flow of the music. This is a constant delight although some devices may be considered quite inappropriate and out of harmony with the meaning of the music. The rendition of the 1812 is ingenious - the rout and flight of all the characters most closely associated with the composer and his triumph in liberated Moscow as he begins a new, free life in conducting. Most people know enough about the 1812 to understand whether this is good and legitimate or not. There are many other examples and one leaves the film with the sense of having shared the intense experiences of a musician.
On the narrative level the film is mature. Tchaikovsky’s homosexuality, being patronised by Madame Von Mech, his attempt at marriage to Nina - a nymphomaniac who disintegrates into insanity, are strong meat psychologically and director. Ken Russell, pulls few punches, especially with Glenda Jackson (after her Oscar for Russell's - Women in Love) acting the part of Nina with an enormous range of intensity and emotion.. Some have found her railway carriage scenes where, drunk and mystified by her husband, she desperately tries to arouse him, too much. However, it is consistent with the exuberant and spirited nature of the whole film. Richard Chamberlain portrays the composer well. Russell has tried to understand Tchaikovsky and his genius to help us appreciate the suffering of a creator who does not feel at one with the world except in his music.
1. How was Tchaikovsky's music used in the film? It almost becomes one of the characters, continually present, commenting on the ideas, imagination and actions of the characters. How was this done? Were the various devices effective? Did it continually set the mood of the film?
2. What were the initial impressions of Tchaikovsky as a person - drinking, revelling, musician, public image?
3. The Piano Concerto was given at some length. Comment on what was shown on the screen concerning happy aspects of the composer's life and the fantasies of Nina's imagination. Did this correspond to the mood of the music?
4. What control did Tchaikovsky’s brother and sister have over him? Was their influence, love and devotion helpful or not? What was the meaning of Tchaikovsky's memories of his mother's death? How had her love and death affected him?
5. How infatuated was Tchaikovsky with the Count? How strong was his desire to be 'normal'?
6. Madam Von Mech was Tchaikovsky’s benefactress in real life. Comment on her actions, infatuation, romantic and seemingly overdone nineteenth century posturing - especially towards the end.
7. What kind of woman was Nina? What did her imagination reveal about her?
8. How convincing was the interplay of Nina's letter-writing and the composition of the letter-writing score of Eugene Onegin?
9. Why was the marriage a failure? What was the point of shoving the first day of the honeymoon at length and then the railway carriage sequence? Was this sequence overdone, in good taste?
10. Was Tchaikovsky cruel to Nina? Was his holiday the best course of action?
11. What happened to Nina and her mother? Did Nina show any signs of madness before her marriage? Did she still love Tchaikovsky?
12. Why did Madame Von Mech abandon the composer? Comment on the way this vas communicated cinematically.
13. The 1812 - did you think this fantasy in the composer's mind was well done or eccentric? This sequence, however, served to summarise his rejection of those who had preyed on his life and gave him a new beginning.
14. Nina in the asylum - did you pity her, struggling for slops to eat and seeing her face looking out from the final credits?
15. What influence did his brother, Maxime, have on Tchaikovsky in the last years of his life? Why did Tchaikovsky drink the infected water? How humiliated did he feel when his symphony was labelled 'pathetic'?
16. Much of the film was flamboyant, postured, romantic, melodramatic. Was this out of place? How did the film's style convey the mood and attitudes of late nineteenth century aristocratic Russia?
