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Ken Russell's ABC of British Music

Feb 4, 1988 · 1h 14m
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Documentary

PLOT

A feat that fully matches its title, an alphabetical trawl through both the history of British music and Russell's own likes and dislikes, the latter summed up by a scene in which he takes a phone call and listens for a bit before concluding that 'it's either an obscene call or the beginning of Michael Tippett's Fourth Symphony.' Gleefully exploiting an already contrived format, Russell uses alphabetical coincidence as an excuse to throw wildly disparate material together: Elgar is fused with Elton John, Holst with Heavy Metal and Punk with Purcell.

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CAST

Ken Russell
Himself
Benjamin Britten
Self (archive)
John Lennon
Self (archive)
Thomas Dolby
Self
Edward Elgar
Self (archive)
Elton John
Self (archive)
Kate Bush
Self (archive)
Janet Baker
Self (archive)
Directed by Ken Russell

DETAILS

Status
Released
Original language
EN
Budget
—
Revenue
—
Production
LWT
Country
GB
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