This Halloween: Ask Ken Russell all those questions that have so been troubling you!

More news from NYC's Anthology Film Archives: Its Hallo-
ween program will be a special midnight screening of Ken Russell's The Devils, with Big Ken himself present to answer your questions about this -- and a lot else, we hope -- his most revered (and loathed) movie. From 1971, this Warner Bros. release spans 103 naughty minutes, will be shown in 35mm, and stars Oliver Reed (above left), Vanessa Redgrave (center) and Dudley Sutton. Russell (above right) is making make his stage directorial debut this fall in NYC with a production of Anthony Horowitz’s MINDGAME, at the SoHo Playhouse, where performances began October 28. To mark the occasion, AFA is offering this special screening of the director's most notorious film, which provoked a scandal upon release and remains, the AFA tells us, one of the most unforgettable films of the 1970s. (I don't buy that one for a moment, but if you haven't seen this oh-so-tasteful movie, you won't find a more appropriate time to do it than Halloween.) Set in 17th-century France, it portrays the witch-hunt that ensues when a rather bizarre nun, Sister Jeanne (Redgrave), is used by a power-hungry elite to destroy Father Grandier (Reed), a liberal, libertine priest who heads the fortified town of Loudun.

“Outrageous even by today’s standards, THE DEVILS is perhaps the best example of Russell putting his taste for excess to good use. […] THE DEVILS is bursting with Inquisition-style torture and some truly blasphemous sequences, but it isn’t your average exploitation flick. Russell uses the witch-hunt motif to explore manias – sexual, political, religious and otherwise. It is no surprise that aficionados consider THE DEVILS to be the film Ken Russell was born to make.” –BRATTLE THEATRE

Hmmmm. I'd say Russell was born to make any number of those splendid little films he did for the BBC (many of which have just been released to DVD). Watch those, compare them to The Devils, and then decide which film the man was "born" to make.

Anthology Film Archives is at 32 Second Ave. at 2nd St. Subway : F or V to 2nd Ave; 6 to Bleecker. Tickets: $8 for adults, $6 for students & seniors; $5 for members.
Ph: 212-505-5181 Web: http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org