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Lisztomania
starring: Roger Daltrey, Sara Kestelman, Paul Nicholas, Ringo Starr, Rick Wakeman
directed by: Ken Russell

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Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786300268982
Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
ISBN: 6300268985
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Release Date: April 15, 1992
Running Time: 103 minutes
Studio: Warner Home Video
Sales Rank: 7498

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
Lisztomania, Ken Russell's follow-up to Tommy (both films were released in 1975) finds him even more in the mood for desultory spectacle than his garish pop artistry adapting the Who's rock opera. Seeking to tell the story of superstar composer Franz Liszt through a freewheeling series of pop allegories, kitsch, quotes, and pastiches, Russell hopes to reflect in contemporary terms the runaway train of Liszt's celebrity, love life, and alleged rivalry with Richard Wagner.

Roger Daltrey, the Who vocalist and star of Tommy, returns to Russell's circus as Liszt, a great pianist nevertheless seduced by the ease with which he can make women squeal by playing flamboyant renditions of "Chopsticks." Floating on a sea of groupies, Liszt struggles with the possibilities of real love while also encountering the vampiric Wagner's exotic plans for world domination. Intuitive impressions, not history, are what this film experience is for, and toward that end Russell pulls out all the stops, planting Liszt into a heartbreakingly Chaplinesque short film, casting Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman as a cryogenic viking, and placing the hero in phallic jeopardy when his genitals are subjected to a guillotine. Some of this striking stuff works, some of it doesn't, but all of it is determinedly undisciplined. With Paul Nicholas as Wagner, and Ringo Starr as the Pope (!). --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- The Least Subtle Film In History
I had wanted to see "Lisztomania" since first reading about it in the brilliant "Golden Turkey Awards" in 1980. True to its reputation, Roger Daltrey plays Franz Liszt in a highly stylized (major understatement) manner as an oversexed rock star, singing his way from one predicament to another and making an arch enemy of Richard Wagner, who exists solely to subjugate the world to Nazi Germany, and who is a vampire on the side. I appreciated that Wagner's hat said "Nietzsche," which made his philosophy somewhat evident early on. Nice touch, Ken.

In the midst of this bedlam Pope Ringo (I'm not kidding: Ringo Starr is the Pope, complete with eye patch and cowboy boots) makes Liszt attempt to convert Wagner to Catholicism in exchange for his (the Pope's) permission for Liszt to marry. ... Read More

Rating:

- List should be on your List!
It's a Ken Russell film that never made it to dvd. Worth a look and just plain fun with Roger Daltrey in tow. Rent or purchase away!

Rating:

- Whacked-out trip!
I finally got to see this movie after seeing stills many years ago. WHAT A TRIP!!! I am not a Franz Liszt historian but it is quite clear, early on, this movie is full of . . . well, fancy. The viewer is shown exhibits of bare [...], a guillotined giant male organ, phallic columns, smoking rear ends and other amazingly bizarre visual nuggets. There is more eye-candy than one person probably should take in but it is quite fascinating as an artist's canvas.

The story is strange, and to say the very least, weak. Roger Daltrey pulls his stiff Tommy acting skills into his role of Liszt. He does manage an unexplainable presence that keeps one entertained. You don't watch this for the story, or the acting, but rather the pure extravagance of the visual presentation. The ending is just ... Read More

Rating:

- FrankenWagnerHitler? What's not to love?!
Oh b'gosh 'n golly, this film is chock full of treats both visual and aural. Given what happens in Princess Carolyne's antechamber, I think we can safely add olfactory to the list as well.

Okay, let's try a little experiment: I want you to think of the most excessive movie you've ever seen. Now, what would it be like if it were twice as excessive? You're not there yet. Make it -more- over-the-top. Getting close.

Ken Russell's Lisztomania makes Ken Russell's Tommy look sedate. It makes any Derek Jarman film seem frightfully low-key. But it also makes you want to watch it again and again.

Who says there's so spectacle in showbiz any more? You've got Roger Daltry as Franz Liszt whooping it up in Princess Carolyne's abode to the male organ while his past lovers ... Read More

Rating:

- we need the dvd...we need the dvd
YES...I vote for the DVD....does one of you know how to set up the "voting" ballot type thing on amazon?.... the people demand the dvd. I only have a destroyed second generation vhs of Liszto......p

VHS : Lisztomania