Do you want to see ‘Savage Messiah’?

Savage Messiah (1972)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 8
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 3

No consensus yet.

No Score Yet...

Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 1

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 308

My Rating

Added to your Facebook Timeline. — undo

Movie Info

Based on the book of the same name by H.S. Ede, eccentric director Ken Russell created this biographical drama of a great early 20th century artist who died tragically young. Henri Gaudier (Scott Anthony) is only 18 years old, a self-taught Parisian sculptor of enormous talent but prone to rash, exuberant behavior. Henri meets and begins a platonic but emotionally intense relationship with Sophie Brzeksa (Dorothy Tutin), a cultured Polish woman 20 years his senior. The relationship between Henri

R, 1 hr. 40 min.

Drama

Directed By: Ken Russell

Written By: Christopher Logue, H.S. Ede

In Theaters: Sep 1, 1972 Wide

On DVD: Feb 23, 1994

Cast

Dorothy Tutin
Sophie Brzeska
Scott Antony
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska
Helen Mirren
Gosh Smith-Boyle
Lindsay Kemp
Angus Corky
Michael Gough
Mons. Gaudier
John Justin
Lionel Shaw
Ben Aris
Thomas Buff
Otto Diamant
Mr. Saltzman
Howard Goorney
Gendarme
Alexei Jawdokimov
Library Student
Robert Lang
Maj. Boyle
Judith Paris
Kate
Aubrey Richards
Mayor
Peter Vaughan
Louvre Attendant
Henry Woolf
Gendarme
Imogen Claire
Mavis Coldstream
Eleanor Fazan
Mme. Gaudier
Claire Marshall
Maid
Maggie Maxwell
Tart
Paul McDowell
Agitator

Critic Reviews for Savage Messiah

All Critics (8) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (5) | Rotten (3)

Russell takes the mystique away from art, but supplies nothing much in its place.

May 9, 2005 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Vincent Canby

New York Times

Top Critic

You get to like Henri and Sophia, maybe more than they like themselves.

October 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

Henri's interesting relationship with the ageing authoress Sophie Brzeska is lost in the director's overriding credo that both art and films are a matter of how much energy you exert.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Derek Adams

Time Out

It's 'the Ken Russell movie for people who don't like Ken Russell movies,' but the truth is that it's also the film for those who not only like, but love Ken Russell movies.

January 21, 2004 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

| Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

One of Russell's less successful art movies, still over-the-top in his trademark style, but not jaw-droppingly so.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Savage Messiah

View All

marvelous, full of passion and romance at a breakneck pace, it's a great deal of fun and ultimately very moving. also contains what i would guess is one of helen mirren's earliest naked performances. RIP ken russell, enfant terrible.

May 24, 2010

Stella Dallas

Super Reviewer

A lovely, entertaining film, which has only occasional flashes of the baroque extravagance which later became Ken Russell's trademark. The actors spend most of the film shouting, but it seems to be faithful to the story (artistic temperaments, you know). According to the IMDB, the lead actor only appeared in four films

March 17, 2008