ReFocus: The Films of Ken Russell

Matthew Melia is a Senior Lecturer in Literature, Film and Media at Kingston University, UK. His research focuses on both the work of Ken Russell and Stanley Kubrick. He is particularly interested in Russell’s unmade and abandoned projects. He is co-editor of The Jaws Book (2020) as well as co-editor and editor of the forthcoming books,  Anthony Burgess, Stanley Kubrick and A Clockwork Orange (2022) and The Jurassic Park Book: 30 years of Spielberg’s Dinosaurs (2023). He has contributed to a variety of publications including a chapter on Russell’s umade BBC films for Shadow Cinema: The Historical and Production Contexts of Unmade Films (2021) as well the The Bloomsbury Companion to Stanley Kubrick (2021) and Reframing Cult Westerns (2020). In 2017 he convened the conference Ken Russell: Perspectives, Reception and Legacy (Kingston University) and in 2018 he co-convened the conference A Clockwork Symposium: A Clockwork Orange – New Perspectives.

Covering the totality of Ken Russell’s career, ReFocus: The Films of Ken Russell uncovers new perspectives about his directing, writing, and biography, and features case studies of some of his most celebrated collaborations – not least with actor Oliver Reed – an essential collection about one of Britain’s most innovative filmmakers.

• List of FiguresNotes on ContributorsAcknowledgementsForeword by Bernard RoseIntroductionPart 1. Contextualising Ken Russell1. Ken Russell: The Boy Behind The Man - Elize Russell2. Performed Masculinities: Oliver Reed in Ken Russell’s Films of the ‘Long 1960s’ - Caroline Langhorst3. Ken Russell’s Gothic Modernism - Matthew MeliaPart 2. Ken Russell and Television4. Ken Russell and Television Advertising - Richard Farmer5. Quartet: Ken Russell’s Painter Biopics and how they Anticipate the Later Cinematic Work - Paul Davies6. Ken Russell and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood - Jo GeorgePart 3. Design, Staging and Stardom7. Shirley Russell and The Role of The Boyfriend in 1970s Retro - NJ Stevenson8. "There was no better director to learn from": Ken Russell’s Collaboration with Derek Jarman - Brian Hoyle-George9. The Hermeneutics of Noise: The Sounds of Salvation in Ken Russell’s Tommy - K.A. Laity10. Mythologising Valentino: Stardom, Biography and Performance in Ken Russell’s Valentino - Jade EvansPart 4. Transgression and the Russell Legacy11. The Extraordinary Parallel – Ken Russell & Dennis Potter Side by Side - Mateja Đedović12. Ken Russell and the sexual dimension of the outsider artist: an exploration of Elgar: The Erotic Variations　and Delius: A Moment with Venus - Kevin Fullerton13. The Short History of Ken Russell Films in Japan - Sawako Omori14. Nicolas Winding Refn and the Russell Style - Adam PowellPart 5: A word from the editor...15. Ken Russell’s Song of Summer and the Virtue of Restraint - Roger Crittenden