... Sure, there’s an Oliver Reed cameo and an anachronistic dream sequence featuring Nazis, but Russell keeps the bit between his teeth and delivers an austere, dignified picture of musical genius that, shorn of sensationalism ,almost no-one saw in 1975.

[A] ghastly film.

Collectors of supreme cinematic monstrosities had better keep a sharp lookout for Ken Russell's latest, Mahler, which may yet set a quick disappearance record even for a Russell film.

A panorama of sight and sound rarely encountered in conventional film making.