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Ken Russell

Known for his explorations of sexuality, religion, music and history via a prism of stylized excess, filmmaker Ken Russell was often hailed as a visionary and the successor to Fellini. After winning acclaim for early biographical dramas that included "Elgar" (1962) and "Song of Summer" (1968), Russell stunned theatergoers and critics alike with his adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's "Women in Love" (1969). From this point forward, the director seemed far less interested in being a critical darling than in becoming a cinematic agent provocateur of the highest order. Films like "The Devils" (1971), "Tommy" (1975), "Altered States" (1980), "Crimes of Passion" (1984) and "Whore" (1991) drew much critical discussion and theorizing about their themes and meanings. A period of made-for-television projects in the mid-1990s preceded a series of self-produced video shorts, sporting titles like "The Fall of the House of Usher: A Gothic Tale for the 21st Century" (2002) and "Revenge of the Elephant Man" (2004). Despite the limited budgets and distribution of these latter films, one thing was for certain - the mercurial filmmaker was still making precisely the movies he wanted to make, and there was no mistaking Ken Russell's work for that of anyone else.