Mahler (1974)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Ken Russell

Writer:

Ken Russell (writer)

Release Date:

February 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Plot:

Both trifles and structure are tossed out the door by director Ken Russell in this film. Here, historical content matters not so much as metaphors...

Plot Keywords:

Marriage | Train | Dream | Composer | Death

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Robert Powell	...	Gustav Mahler
Georgina Hale	...	Alma Mahler
Lee Montague	...	Bernhard Mahler
Miriam Karlin	...	Aunt Rosa
Rosalie Crutchley	...	Marie Mahler
Gary Rich	...	Young Gustav
Richard Morant	...	Max
Angela Down	...	Justine Mahler
Antonia Ellis	...	Cosima Wagner
Ronald Pickup	...	Nick
Peter Eyre	...	Otto Mahler
Dana Gillespie	...	Anna von Mildenburg
George Coulouris	...	Doctor Roth
David Collings	...	Hugo Wolf
Arnold Yarrow	...	Grandfather

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Belgium:KT | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Black Park Country Park, Wexham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Goodtimes Enterprises

Trivia:

Cameo: [Oliver Reed] a train conductor blowing a whistle as Mahler's train is about to pull out of the station.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Mahler's train leaves St. Pölten, a sign is visible identifying the town as "Saint Pölten". Yet, the German long script for the town is "Sankt Pölten".

Quotes:

Mahler: You've already wasted three minutes of my time! Now why don't you do what I do to keep the New York Philharmonic in time: beat it!

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Morte a Venezia (1971)

Russell's Best Film

I disagree with viewers who have claimed that this movie is over-the-top and excessive, as some other Ken Russell movies. It is true that the British director cultivated shock, gore and excessive cinematography that often resembled heavy LSD hallucinations or a Bosch paintings. But he felt he was only ahead of his time in the late 60's and throughout the 70's. Prime examples of this are his Tommy, Lisztomania and The Devils. But "Mahler" is actually his most tame and restrained. I found the film genuinely moving and haunting. It's slow-paced, quite talky and very very musical in nature. Robert Powell stars as the anguished composer Gustav Mahler, Georgina Hale as his wife Alma and Antonia Ellis as the dark and seductive Cosima Wagner. The film is partially historic partially psychological and partially dream-like. It is true that Mahler, who was born Jewish, converted to Catholicism simply for the sake of landing a prestigious job as conductor of the Vienna State Opera. His relationship with Cosima Wagner, Richard Wagner's widowed wife, did in fact have something detrimental about it. In the film, it's hinted they are lovers and that Cosima has managed to isolate him from his wife and children. With the music of Mahler and Wagner in the soundtrack, and fine performances by the lead stars, this is indeed Ken Russell's most psychological works of drama. Essentially, it's about the downfall of a man who has compromised his ethics and sacrificed his religion for the sake of money and fame.

Robert Powell, Antonia Ellis and Georgina Hale carry most of the movie. Alma, who was largely considered a big name in feminist history and a brilliant woman in her own right, felt eclipsed by the genius of Mahler. Their marriage was never happy and ended in divorce. Cosima Wagner was notoriously Anti-Semitic, in fact, it is said she was far more so than her husband Richard Wagner. Antonia Ellis does do a very over-the-top performance, at one point in a dream sequence even dressing up as a Nazi dominatrix in the quite hilarious silent film parody in which Mahler is converted into Catholicism. There is even a funny song to the strains of Wagner's Ride of The Valkyries. This and the Death Fantasy in which Mahler imagines he is being buried alive and Alma is dancing over his grave and carrying out numerous affairs are the only Russell elements that fall into excess. But most of the film is quite haunting and lovely to look at. Highly recommended as a Russell film to watch without judgment of his other works.