Mahler

Rating:
Summary: A TERRIBLE DVD COPY!
Review: It is amazing how the company putting out this DVD could get away with selling such poor picture quality. There is a noticeable blur that accompanies most tracking shots, the picture is grainy, the colors are rather dull, and seems digitally transferred from an old VHS copy. And do not believe ads calling this a "widescreen" edition. It is standard screen size, possibly because it was never filmed in a widescreen format to begin with. The VHS version may be a bit better, but those with the illusion that DVD is always synonymous with superior quality -- BEWARE!

Rating:
Summary: Russell's Best Film: The Life Of Mahler In Symbolic Fantasy
Review: Ken Russell was a controversial, daring and bold director of modernism back in the late 60's and through the 70's. His films were disturbing to watch for many and so crammed with bizarre symbolism that it appeared to be inspired by hallucinations triggered by drug abuse. The horror film "The Devils" from 1971 was about witchcraft, Satanism and the Black Plague in early Renaissance France in which Vannessa Redgrave played a blasphemous nun. "Tommy" was a rock opera depicting the drug cultre and rock of the 70's. Lisztomania was a bio epic with a bizarre comic book twist on the life of pianist and composer Franz Liszt. Of all his films, Mahler is Russell's most restrained and most beautiful. It has minimal twists and bizarre symbols, except for the appropriate sections - the opening in which Mahler is dreaming of his wife as a struggling creature in a cocoon, witnessing his own death and his wife dancing over his grave and taking on lovers and the silent movie "The Convert" about Cosima Wagner converting Mahler from Jew to Catholic. This scene is hilarious as Cosima Wagner plays a Nazi dominatrix forcing him to eat pig (Still Kosher ?)making a parody of Wagner opera and the scene concludes with their singing of The Ride Of The Valkyries.

The true meat of the film is the music being used for the right scenes. Even an allusion to Visconti's version of A Death In Venice by Thomas Mann is made early in the film. There are many fine moments in the film. Among them is the scene in which Alma, Mahler's wife, buries her husband's 10th Symphony Score or perhaps something else that was never discovered to the romantic strains of Wagner's Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde. Cosima Wagner is the villain in the film, portrayed as a seductive, dark, mysterious temptress. Mahler did in fact convert to Catholicism simply to get the job of conductor of the Vienna State Opera. Anti-Semitism was a popular movement during this time and Cosima Wagner, the widow of the late Richard Wagner, was notoriously Anti-Semitic. Another powerful scene is Mahler explaining Heaven and Hell, angels and demons to his two daughters. Illustrations by Gustav Dore are depicted. Also moving is the scene towards the end in which Alma protects her daughters from a coming storm and from the allure of the evil Cosima Wagner who apparently has already bewitched Mahler. The conflicts of the film are two: Mahler and his inner conflict. He was Jewish, betrayed his faith to gain fame as conductor (He was the lead conductor of the world next to Arturo Toscanini in the Metropolitan Opera of New York City during the 1908-1910 seasons.) His obscession with Death, his fascination with the natural world and the loss of children's innocence, hence his work for voice Songs On The Death Of Children. The music here from the symphonies is well done and conducted by Bernard Haitink. It is a beautiful if bizarre film.

Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment
Review: Mahler is one of my favourite composers, to the extent that I am familiar with the scores of many of his symphonies. So it was with great anticipation that I went to see this film. What better raw material for a movie than the obviously troubled soul of this great man?
What we get is a movie with highly varying quality and style, whose bits do not marry into an harmonious unison. Most of the time the film is realistic, and here Russell manages some real triumphs without plunging to vulgarity: all the train scenes are meticulously worked out, the relationship between Gustav and Alma at their lake-shore house (inc. the Kindertottenlieder music accompanying Alma looking for one of her daughters). Or the moving scene when Mahler visits Hugo Wolf in the asylum.

But then you get these forays into slapstick: The Chaplinesque scene sepicting Mahler's conversion to Christianity (Russell couldn't even resist putting on Woddy Allen style glasses on Mahler's nose) with Cosima Wagner as a vulgar Nazi Goddess.

Or the family scenes from Mahler's childhood, done with such exaggeration and vulgarity that you can be sure the Elders of Zion will have a hard time surpassing.

Or the swimming scene from Mahler's childhood, suffering from excess naivette.

Ken Russell looks as if he had a real hard time deciding what he wants to be: A serious movie director, or a really funny (??) guy. He seems to have overlooked the possibility of inserting humour, darkness and symbolism with nuances - he has to spit it in our face.

Many compliments go to Bernard Haitink who conducts the Royal Concertgebouw in a marvelous performance of the pieces.

Rating:
Summary: Probably one of the most abstract movies I ever saw
Review: Mahler is the only Ken Russel film I have ever seen, and from what I read from the other reviews, it's a good movie to start with. The movie begins with a dream (which you don't find out until later). If you want my opinion, it's not a very good way to start a movie- for those "mild stomached" people it's most likely to provoke them to turn off the TV as soon as the scene comes on. The movie gets a bit milder after that. Gustav Mahler (if you don't know your history) is an Austrian composer, and in the movie it's basically focusing on his life and his bumpy relationship with this wife. The whole movie takes place on a train. Some his flashbacks include his rejection of Judaism for Catholism (he did it for his career), the death of his children, and some conflicts with his wife. I had to watch the film a few times to get the hang of it, but if you like independent films and like to watch movies out of the box, then this is the movie for you.

Rating:
Summary: The worst DVD transfer I ever saw...
Review: Mahler was a great Ken Russell film. It should have been presented correctly on DVD. Instead what we get is a washed out, blurry, scratched up mess. The sound is bad and the beauty of the cinematography is totally lost. This would be laughable if it weren't a shame. Honestly, the VHS version of this film blows the DVD away (huh?). Mr. Russell was a pioneer in his time and respected by people who enjoyed his mischievous touch. This film needs to be redone by someone who cares!

Rating:
Summary: The Best of Ken Russell's Efforts
Review: Or at least the best that I've seen. A very amusing, highly satirical film. It's not a straight-forward biography, but rather it tries to capture the important milestones in Mahler's life. Russell introduces a number of sly references to other films including Visconti's 'Death in Venice'. Russell doesn't make Mahler an entirely sympathetic character especially in his treatment of Alma, but he does bring out their love and devotion for each other. Also, Mahler's nonchalant discarding of his Jewishness to gain a position at the Vienna State Opera doesn't make him particularly admirable. The scene in which he placates Cosima Wagner is very funny and may not please some Wagnerites. Watch for the various Wagnerian icons there! Other segments I liked were the dream funeral and the interview with Hugo Wolf. Robert Powell is a handsome and intense Mahler, and the boy who plays young Mahler is, for once, not conventionally cute. I don't know what the complaint about the DVD is, but mine seems quite all right.

Rating:
Summary: Mahler
Review: Provocative, passionate, and resonates with his music, "Mahler" is an exquisitely produced Ken Russell film for anyone who enjoys a dramatic sense of history and the rich sounds of musical composition. Definitely, a home library acquistion.

Rating:
Summary: great for a lot of reasons
Review: This film has a lot of strengths which make it essential.

There are a lot of segments without dialogue in which Mahler's music is given visual settings. A Mahler music video, to put it crudely. But the coordination between Mahler's music and these segments alone make this an essential film. Another high point is the scene where Alma goes around and "silences" the countryside noises as Mahler incorporates them into his music. (This is somewhat true, Mahler once told Bruno Walter he didn't have to look at the scenery because he already wrote them into his symphony.)

The "conversion" with the Cosima Wagner dominatrix is hilarious, although that will be offensive to some people. (Offensive, but true. Long live the Truth!)

Having read Adorno and Carr on Mahler, there are a lot of small subtle details incorporated, such as Mahler's annoyance by everyday noises and his love for the smell of insense.

Given the tone of these books, I think this film does a good job portraying philosophical issues that surround Mahler's life and his works.

Above all, Maher is a genius and his music is powerful. This film is an enhancement to enjoying Mahler's music.

Rating:
Summary: Very...........different
Review: This is a rather bizzare movie on the life of the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler. Then again, perhaps it would be borderline impossible for anyone to conceive of a movie about Mahler which was not bizarre. The movie makes an attempt to reconstruct the psychology of an artistic genius, one who was so inspired by the works of Beethoven, Wagner, Goethe, Nietzsche & Novalis.

The film takes place aboard a train; Mahler and his wife are both travelling on board. The trainride sees Mahler indulge in a number of flashbacks and nightmares, all of which provide the vehicle for Ken Russell to divulge the more salient episodes of Mahler's life. Among these are his childhood artistic inspirations, the rocky relationships he had with his wife & family and the unfortunate but infamous encounter he had with the emperor of Austria.

As a biography of a composer, this one does not rank up there with "Amadeus," "Immortal Beloved" or Richard Burton's "Wagner." However, it does do a credible job of engaging some of the more memorable epochs of his life, as well as his incessant infatuation with death. There are also some intentional anachronisms, such as his "meeting" with Cosima Wagner.

Far more important though, is the introspective look which the movie offers on the isolated existence of a tormented genius. The continual anguish of this friendly, misanthropic megalomaniac is felt throughout. Someone once asked Mahler, "How could a man as kind-hearted as you have written a symphony so full of suffering?" "It is," replied Mahler, "the sum of all the suffering I have been compelled to endure at the hands of life." Such is the theme of this movie. Such was the theme of Mahler's life. It is a theme sometimes gruesome, sometimes hauntingly beautiful, and always gripping. See this movie, and hear the theme for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Very...........different
Review: This is a rather bizzare movie on the life of the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler. Then again, perhaps it would be borderline impossible for anyone to conceive of a movie about Mahler which was not bizarre. The movie makes an attempt to reconstruct the psychology of an artistic genius, one who was so inspired by the works of Beethoven, Wagner, Goethe, Nietzsche & Novalis.

The film takes place aboard a train; Mahler and his wife are both travelling on board. The trainride sees Mahler indulge in a number of flashbacks and nightmares, all of which provide the vehicle for Ken Russell to divulge the more salient episodes of Mahler's life. Among these are his childhood artistic inspirations, the rocky relationships he had with his wife & family and the unfortunate but infamous encounter he had with the emperor of Austria.

As a biography of a composer, this one does not rank up there with "Amadeus," "Immortal Beloved" or Richard Burton's "Wagner." However, it does do a credible job of engaging some of the more memorable epochs of his life, as well as his incessant infatuation with death. There are also some intentional anachronisms, such as his "meeting" with Cosima Wagner.

Far more important though, is the introspective look which the movie offers on the isolated existence of a tormented genius. The continual anguish of this friendly, misanthropic megalomaniac is felt throughout. Someone once asked Mahler, "How could a man as kind-hearted as you have written a symphony so full of suffering?" "It is," replied Mahler, "the sum of all the suffering I have been compelled to endure at the hands of life." Such is the theme of this movie. Such was the theme of Mahler's life. It is a theme sometimes gruesome, sometimes hauntingly beautiful, and always gripping. See this movie, and hear the theme for yourself.