Few films have had a second life as strange, contested, and frustratingly elusive as Ken Russell’s “Ken Russell’s The Devils.” Released in 1971, attacked as obscene, censored in multiple territories, and long unavailable in any proper, widely accessible form, Russell’s film has spent decades as one of cinema’s great suppressed legends. Now, after years of waiting, his masterpiece is finally returning to the big screen.
Warner Bros. Clockwork has released a new trailer for “Ken Russell’s The Devils,” the long-anticipated 4K restoration of Russell’s seminal work. The trailer arrives timed to the film’s 35mm world premiere at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna, following a rapturous reception for the restoration at Cannes last month.
The restoration is cut to Russell’s specific direction, with Warner Bros. noting that no other formal director’s cut exists. That distinction matters. For decades, “The Devils” has been known almost as much for the versions audiences could not see as for the film itself, with cuts, censorship, and limited availability turning it into a kind of forbidden object for cinephiles.
Starring Oliver Reed as a charismatic priest and Vanessa Redgrave as a nun who accuses him of possession and heresy, “Ken Russell’s The Devils” remains a startlingly contemporary epic of obsession, religious spectacle, and institutional corruption. What shocked audiences in 1971 now looks less like provocation for provocation’s sake than one of Russell’s fiercest political visions: a film about power using hysteria as theater.
The film also stars Gemma Jones, Dudley Sutton, Max Adrian, Murray Melvin, Michael Gothard, Georgina Hale, Christopher Logue, and Graham Armitage. Written and directed by Russell, “The Devils” was produced by Robert H. Solo and Russell, with music composed and conducted by Peter Maxwell Davies, cinematography by David Watkin, editing by Michael Bradsell, costumes by Shirley Russell, and sets designed by Derek Jarman.
The new 4K restoration was assembled from the original camera negative, with sound remastered from the original English composite 35mm mag film and additional original film elements used where needed. The reconstruction was undertaken by Lucida Productions in London, with thanks given to Mark Kermode, one of the film’s longtime advocates.
Considered shocking upon its original release, “Ken Russell’s The Devils” has since been embraced by many as Russell’s masterpiece. The return of the film in this form is not just another library restoration; it is the reemergence of a major work that has been absent from theatrical and home-viewing life for far too long.
Warner Bros. Clockwork will release “Ken Russell’s The Devils” in theaters globally this fall, in partnership with the British Film Institute in the UK. The film opens in select North American theaters on October 16 for an exclusive one-week engagement, with international theatrical dates to be announced.
