A biography of director Ken Russell that details the wild ideas, surreal moments, personal faith, and cavalcade of colorful personalities surrounding this eccentric filmmaker--on and off the set. Best known for the acclaimed movies Altered States , The Devils , Gothic , The Music Lovers , Tommy , and Women in Love , Russell redefined cinema in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, working with magnetic actors like Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine, Ann-Margret, William Hurt, Gabriel Byrne, and Vanessa Redgrave. Moments of Russell's career are highlighted in this intimate biography, including how creative differences between Russell and producer Robert Stigwood stopped production of a movie version of Evita , how he creatively staged the love duet between Faust and Helen over a bowl of pasta in the opera Mephistopheles , and how Alan Bates and Oliver Reed compared their penis size for the nude wrestling scene in Women in Love .