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starring: Richard Chamberlain, Glenda Jackson, Max Adrian, Christopher Gable, Kenneth Colleydirected by: Ken Russell
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302180213
Format: Color, NTSC
ISBN: 630218021X
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Release Date: January 27, 1993
Running Time: 123 minutes
Sales Rank: 627
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: 1970
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Furious, violently bombastic, terribly unsettling, Ken Russell's 1970 biography of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (Richard Chamberlain) is a portrait of artistic brilliance beset by the Russian composer's mounting guilt over, well, everything: his homosexuality, his marriage to the increasingly miserable and mad Nina (Glenda Jackson), his hidden attraction to Count Anton Chiluvsky (Christopher Gable), and his suggestively incestuous relations with a sister while growing up. Consumed by his art to the point of explosiveness, Tchaikovsky has increasing difficulty coping with his life, finding some solace in the distant love proffered by his rich patroness (who refuses to meet him but communicates her feelings through letters). Russell intends the film to be a bumpy and harsh ride that descends into grotesque tragedy as Nina is confined to a monstrous asylum and Tchaikovsky becomes ill. Still, there are a few of the usual pop-surreal sequences of which the director is so fond, most memorably a loony visual accompaniment for the 1812 Overture. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Acceptable for the great music, not the misinformed history
If you watch 1970's "Music Lovers", Ken Russell's badly misinformed portrait of the life of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, you may think people were as open about homosexuality in the 1870s and they were starting to become in the 1970s. Europeans have always been more open and accepting of lifestyle than Americans, but this film treatment still borders on the ridiculous.
The subject of Russell's dissertation, Tchaikovsky, was one of the half-dozen greatest classical music composers in history. ... Read More
Rating:  - Filmmaking of the highest order: Ken Russell's Tchaikowsky--Genius recognizing genius!
Peter Tchaikowsky (1840-1893) is arguably Russia's greatest composer/pianist/conductor.His life was filled with heartache,trauma,emotional instability,near madness,perfectionism and most of all the inability or unwillingness to accept his homosexual nature. His music IS all about emotion. His works triumphantly and tragically are mirror images of his life, and therefore to understand his life IS to understand his work. Tchaikowsky always searched for love. Upon the unsettling death of his mother from ... Read More
Rating: - Why, oh why.....
is this film not on DVD? And, for the record, what about The Devils? Ken Russell was the most courageous and daring film-maker of his or any generation. His films were, and still are, waaay ahead of their time. There's no way anyone would touch that subject matter today. In an industry filled with formulaic scripts and passionless, bland, Winona Ryder-esque acting, his films were the jewel in the crown, the needle in the haystack. We desperately need more writers/directors/producers with his uncompromising ... Read More
Rating: - NAZTROVJA!!!
That is really a somewhat americanization of my polish/baltic heritage...'to your good health'! Tip back your head and swallow down a nice fat shot of (w)vodka as you begin to drink in the absolute wonder of this mind blowing ride in Ken Russell's vision! I too,as so many others have said, am at a total loss as to why this has not yet made it to dvd! I have a pirated copy I taped from (I think it was either Cinemax or HBO) and am lucky I caught at least that! The tape is sealed in airtight plastic as are a few ... Read More
Rating: - For Ken Russell loyalists, a worthy film
One could argue that this is Ken Russell's most understated film. That said, it's still a struggle to get through at times though Richard Chamberlain gives one of his finest performances. One senses that Chamberlain, decades away from revealing his own sexuality, felt a certain kinship to the Tchaikovsky presented in this film.
Beautiful music and scenery aren't enough to carry "The Music Lovers" and it falls a bit short as it drags on to it's inevitable conclusion. Still, Russell does a much better job ... Read More
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