Capital Celluloid 2017 - Day 234: Thu Aug 24

The Devils (Russell, 1971): Cinema Museum, 7pm


Over five days in August (Wednesday 23rd – Sunday 27th) the Cinema Museum will be celebrating the life and work of the director Ken Russell with a host of famous guests, including Glenda Jackson, Robert Powell and Georgina Hale. You can find the selection of his movies, TV films and rare shorts in the line-up here. Mark Kermode, who introduces tonight's screening, says of the film: “It remains a genuinely breathtaking work, the jewel in the crown of Russell’s magnificent career; a film which was ahead of its time 40 years ago, and which (like its creator) never lost the power to entral and enrage in equal measure.”

Time Out review:
'There's plenty here that's still incredibly shocking. The scenes of plague are truly vile, as are the climatic torture scenes. But what horrifies most is Ken Russell's nihilistic view of the world in general, and humanity in particular: almost without exception, we are shown to be vain, lustful, perverse, self-serving, murderous, disease-ridden, exploitative, decadent, deluded creatures unworthy or incapable of salvation. Approach with extreme caution.'

Tom Huddleston


Here (and above) is the trailer.

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