Iconic director Ken Russell was at the 2010 edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival to receive a lifetime achievement award from for his 50-plus years in the business, a career that has spawned many genre classics including Altered States, Gothic, and The Lair of the White Worm. But it was the little-seen and hard to find The Devils from 1971 that proved to be Russell’s most controversial work, and Fantasia managed to snag a copy to be screened on Russell’s big night. In the video, Russell discusses the true story behind the film and receives his award with the grace befitting one of the great filmmakers of all time.
Frolicking naked nuns, rock star exorcists, sexually adventurous priests being burned alive, a cross-dressing layabout king of France. What’s not to love about The Devils? And yet, Russell manages to pull it all together, creating a cohesive and compelling film that includes many of his trademarks, not the least of which are extreme closeups set to a cacophonous soundtrack to parlay confusion and hysteria. Reed and Redgrave turn in quite possibly the performances of their careers in this one, with Reed commanding the viewer’s attention whenever he’s on scre...