"This is a flawed film from the master, and I read in his autobiography that after it tanked, he tried to kill himself and did not make a film for five years. I love it! Such gorgeous vignettes, like the man who stops talking and loses all the color in his flesh after he finds out his wife cheated on him! Or the drunk couples who swap partners every night! He built a whole artificial dumpster on a stage and painted it in radiant colors, and then went about telling the most heartbreaking short stories of madness and despair in it. It’s like Raymond Carver on some very good acid, taking no prisoners!"

"This adaptation of the D. H. Lawrence novel examines the relationships between two sisters and their respective romantic partners in post–World War I England. Ken Russell does a fascinating job of exploring themes of jealousy, lust, homosexuality, fidelity, and social class in a challenging and often pointed way. He turns the notion of virtuous love on its head and, in true Russell fashion, throttles the characters and the audience, unflinchingly asking them the deeper questions that we typically dare not even ask ourselves. There are breathtaking locations, arresting cinematography, and a wrestling scene that makes Viggo Mortensen’s nude knife fight in Eastern Promises look tame. As with all Ken Russell movies, be prepared to have this one on your mind for a while after the credits have rolled."