1. Ken Russell
Ken Russell was a pioneering British film director. As Mark Kermode said about him, he made British cinema flamboyant - like Fellini, when many British directors were mired in earnest, social realism kitchen sink dramas. His best known work is undoubtedly The Devils which was released in 1971. It is a timeless classic which still looks fabulous today, thanks to Russell's vivid direction and Derek Jarman's sets. The film follows a nun called Sister Jeanne who is secretly in love with a handsome, charismatic priest called Father Grandier. When she learns he is in love with another woman, Sister Jeanne cracks up and accuses Grandier of witchcraft. There is a public exorcism of Sister Jeanne and her nuns famously shed their clothes and get down to Sapphic business. The outlook for Grandier is grim. The Devils is such a brilliant movie, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Russell never directed a dud film - except for The Lair of the White Worm - which is a pretty weak horror film that features Hugh Grant before he hit the big time. But Russell's weak films are more interesting than most other director's successes. Never scared to take artistic risks, one of Russell's best projects was the adaptation of The Who's rock opera Tommy. Once seen, never forgotten, Tommy features an all star cast - Roger Daltrey, Elton John, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton. It is such a tremendous fun movie it makes the viewer glad to be alive. Russell was also famous for adapting the D H Lawrence book - Women in Love, which features an infamous nude wrestling scene between the two male leads. It was a fairly innocent scene of two men having a grapple but the censors didn't like it and imposed cuts. The cuts took away the context of the wrestling scene and it made it look like the two men had been engaged in anal sex. This became known as 'The great buggery sequence' and ensured the film's infamy. Other Ken Russell films I would recommend include are The Lovers - a biopic about the secretly gay composer Tchaikovsky and his poor unhappy wife. I also particularly like his biopic Valentino which chronicles the rise to fame and tragic early death of the film star legend. Crimes of Passion, which explores the world of prostitution, is also a seedy but compelling affair. One thing about Russell is that he was never boring. I have watched virtually all of his films and they are so iconoclastic and quirky, they quickly capture the imagination of the viewer. Russell was a Giant in British cinema and his passing will be sorely felt.