Ken Russell's ABC of British Music (1988)

Directed by Ken Russell1h 14mDocumentary

A feat that fully matches its title, an alphabetical trawl through both the history of British music and Russell's own likes and dislikes, the latter summed up by a scene in which he takes a phone call and listens for a bit before concluding that 'it's either an obscene call or the beginning of Michael Tippett's Fourth Symphony.' Gleefully exploiting an already contrived format, Russell uses alphabetical coincidence as an excuse to throw wildly disparate material together: Elgar is fused with Elton John, Holst with Heavy Metal and Punk with Purcell.

Year

1988

Country

Language

English

Release date

4 February 1988

TMDB

10.0 (1)

CineVerse

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