The Devils (Ken Russell, 1971)

The Devils to me stands alone in Russell’s work. It has the fierceness and craziness of his movies but it also has a seriousness and an intensity that isn’t in his other movies. Also the Derek Jarman art design is incredible. The performances, certainly from Oliver Reed, who’s one of my favourite actors, is something to behold. The first time I saw it in the cinema was in Austin during Fantastic Fest, and all these people who had never even heard of it before were gasping and trying to come to terms with what they were seeing for the first time. That was a really interesting experience!