Mahler

"An electrifying visual odyssey into musical madness and savage romance."

1974 1h 55m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 48

DramaMusic

Synopsis

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Famed composer Gustav Mahler reflects on the tragedies of his life and failing marriage while traveling by train.

“An electrifying visual odyssey into musical madness and savage romance.”

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Where to watch · US

Criterion ChannelSubscription

Cast

Robert Powell
Gustav Mahler
Georgina Hale
Alma Mahler
Lee Montague
Bernhard Mahler
Miriam Karlin
Aunt Rosa
Rosalie Crutchley
Marie Mahler
Richard Morant
Max
Angela Down
Justine Mahler
Ronald Pickup
Nick

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ken Russell
Writers: Ken Russell
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

52 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ken Russell, shot by Dick Bush. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Gustav Mahler. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michael Bradsell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Robert Powell and Georgina Hale and Lee Montague carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "An electrifying visual odyssey into musical madness and savage romance.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0071797 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ken Russell directs. Dick Bush behind the camera. Gustav Mahler scores. Michael Bradsell cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

152 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
3Directed by Ken Russell, shot by Dick Bush. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Gustav Mahler. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Michael Bradsell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Robert Powell and Georgina Hale and Lee Montague carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "An electrifying visual odyssey into musical madness and savage romance.".
8IMDB entry: tt0071797 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 48 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Dick Bush
Original score: Gustav Mahler
Editing: Michael Bradsell
Costume design: Shirley Russell
Makeup / hair: Joyce James
Sound: Gerry Humphreys
Runtime: 115 min · 1h 55m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Mahler (1974)

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Ken Russell

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-06-18
★ 7/10
As biopics go, this has to be the least structured and most creatively ambiguous I think I’ve ever seen. It sort of follows a chronology of the life of Gustav Mahler (Robert Powell) using a train journey with his wife Alma (Georgina Hale) and a wide selection of his music as a conduit for just how we got here. It’s safe to say that the marriage isn’t exactly happy. She resents the time he spends composing and conducting and even though they have a very comfortable life with their children, she yearns for something more. He, meantime, is so subsumed in his art that he doesn’t notice, or realise, or maybe even care that his wife might leave him for a dashing soldier who rather smugly confronts an obviously now poorly Mahler in their compartment. Ken Russell doesn’t, however, just give us a join the dots version of their temperamentally charged lives. We dart about using current scenarios, other passengers on the train, even the porters to paint a picture of their opulent discomfort whilst regaling us with numerous flashbacks illustrating happier times, family times and healthier ones too. It’s as if someone took a jigsaw of this man’s life and threw the pieces into the air. We have to try to put it back together again, except we only have bits of the guide picture from which to work and so coupled with his rousing music we are presented with much more of a puzzle than you’d expect from the title. In many ways, it could easily be an Ingmar Bergman film - the style of costumes, photography and brilliant light all have a certain sterility to them that marries the classic with the impersonal and though chemistry wouldn’t be the right word, there is certainly something between the on-form Powell and Hale. There is one scene in this with Mahler in a glass-topped coffin that is positively and claustrophobically surreal, and that rather sums up this clever take on an history of a enigmatic man obsessed. Big screen audio does the orchestrations extra justice, but even if you’re not a great fan of his works, this is quirky film-making at it’s best.

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