It's about art and the love for art, but not artistically shot as other Russell films. On a scale from 1 to 10( Lisztomania being 10, the maximum Russell), this one is probably a 3. The two main characters has an unique and interesting relationship, but not amicable since they are both loud, rude and crazy. They are annoying and not very enjoyable to watch. For someone who lives in NYC, they do remind me of the frantic hipsters I see on the streets everyday... On a scale from 1 to 10( Women in Love being 10, the maximum enjoyable, for me anyways), this one is likely a 3 also. However after some research I found out that both of them have mental illness(No way!). I wish I knew that before so maybe I would have enjoyed the movie more? The lines are very good, values too(10 outta 10), if you love art you are bond to adore this movie, one way or another.

"Savage Messiah" 1972, remains an interesting conundrum in Ken Russell's maniacal retelling of the lives of tortured artists. Russell tackled some big names during his heyday in the 1970s: Tchaikovsky, Mahler,Liszt. The flamboyant director switched gears from musical geniuses to observe a second-tier sculptor, one Henri Gaudier- Brzeska. Only Ken Russell would have resurrected this forgotten artist and put his brief life story on the screen. The results of the director's mania for depicting artists as driven wretched humans who live outside the norm failed at last. "Savage Messiah" is a hot mess. Russell's famous visual styling is lukewarm at best here, only in a few scenes do we see the explosions of color and texture Russell is famous for. The Vortex nightclub and the dinner at Angus Corky's are pure Russell, which is to say, that people are monstrous and behave monstrously when given the chance. The rest of this movie is a shrill, incoherent assemblage of scenes documenting Gaudier's bizarre affair with Sophie Brzeksa, a woman old enough to be his mother. He's a randy 19 year old artistic demon and she's a failed writer who hates sex. They meet, instantly bond for some weird "artistic" reason, argue non-stop about art and culture, finally taking each other's last name in a strange sort of marriage and the rest is history. Watching this is a pretty exhausting affair. The now-forgotten actor Scott Antony wears out his welcome pretty quickly by portraying Gaudier as a screaming out-of-control artist who shouts platitudes about art incessantly. That is, when he's not physically jumping over anything in his path and dribbling food/drink all over himself in a metaphorical visual about devouring everything in order to create. One wonders if Antony decided to play Gaudier as a borderline sociopath or if Russell urged him to go full throttle. One suspects the latter, as subtlety was never Russell's strong point. We get it, Ken. Artists are passionate. Russell shovels the Bohemian lifestyle on the viewer with a bulldozer.So, by the end of this tale of art and the makers of, we learn that Gaudier-Brzeska dies at the tender age of 23 in WW1. His work is showcased at the film's finale and the viewer wanders off to get aspirins. Not much sticks in the viewer's memory with the exception of an astonishing nude scene by none other than Dame Helen Mirren. This must be seen to be believed and seems to be the most remembered thing about this film. Set design by the brilliant infant terrible of the 70s UK art scene, Derek Jarman. He designed the sets for "The Devils" which are unforgettable. Jarman echoes those sets here. Costumes by the equally brilliant Shirley Russell.Not a complete failure, but very close for Russell. There's a reason this has been a forgotten film, but worth a look if you need to complete your Russell library. By the way, if watching look for the scene in the Louvre in which Gaudier decides to perch on the enormous Easter Island head while raving about primitives. The head is obviously made of paper-mache and it wobbles underneath the actor.

This is a really dreadful film! I remember going to the cinema one Tuesday afternoon in 1972 thinking Savage Messiah was probably an action thriller. Instead, I found I was watching an arty biopic of a French sculptor that I had never heard of. Scott Antony who plays the sculptor spends almost the entire film shouting and acting in an overly manic way. Believe me, ten minutes in the company of this fella and you would want to strangle him. His relationship with an older woman played by Dorothy Tutin did nothing for me as she too was prone to manic outbursts.I will, however, be eternally grateful to Savage Messiah for introducing me to the lovely Helen Mirren. After ten minutes of watching this film I was tempted to leave the cinema, but I stuck it out and was rewarded with the best full frontal nude scene that I have ever seen in a mainstream film. As my eyes almost popped out of my head I waited for the final credits to see who the luscious creature was who had played Gosh Boyle. I have been a huge fan of Ms.Mirren ever since.I do have this film on VHS, recorded when on TV, but only watch it to admire the lovely Helen whose beauty will remain forever.

This is an impressive story about the outlandish affair between the Polish Sophie Brzeska (Dorothy Tutin) and sculptor Henry Gaudier (Scott Anthony). Meanwhile , he falls in love with a rebel suffragist (Helen Mirren) . At the ending , Gaudier died in action during WWI at 10 p.m , near of Neaville(France) at 23 years old.This is an intense and thoughtful tale about the platonic relationship proceeded in a Russel's style . It's a convincing picture though relies heavily on the stormy relationship between the great artist Henry Gaudier and Sophie Brzeska . As the film displays Russel trademarks , extreme angle cameras , excessive facial close-ups , utilization of numerous camera shots with primary colors and overblown visuals . Excellent cast with deliberately theatrical performances . Magnificent main players and secondary actors , such as : Helen Mirren , John Justin , Lindsay Kemp , Michael Gough and Peter Vaughn , among others . Glamorous cinematography with exceptional attention to period detail and captivating images by Dick Bush , Hammer's usual cameraman . The motion picture was well directed in flamboyance style by Ken Rusell . He's an expert director , whose greatest success was in the 70s making offbeat musical biographies , such as : 'Mahler' , 'Lizstomania' , 'Music lovers'(Tchaikovsky) ; besides , he directed other hits , as 'Women in love' , 'Valentino' and 'The Devils' , and today still directing , as 'Moll Flanders' in production . This oddball biographic chronicle will appeal to Ken Russell aficionados .