Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

It's 19th century Tsarist Russia. Piano teacher Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky (Richard Chamberlain) struggles against his homosexuality by marrying Antonina Miliukova (Glenda Jackson) whom he can never truly satisfy.It's a lavish garish production taking advantage of the London Symphony Orchestra. It's also a rambling affair of long takes and obscure style. Sometimes it's masterful but more often than not, it is over-the-top crazy. The camera moves are all over the place with some very close up work. The music is a constant which gives a surreal dreamlike quality to the viewing. Chamberlain and Jackson have some crazy ridiculous attempted sex scenes. It's all over the top and considering Chamberlain's own secret homosexuality, it's all very poignant camp surrealism. They both leave it all on the screen. As with most biopics, I leave its authenticity to somebody more qualified although I don't accuracy is the main objective in this movie. I do have to admit that I have trouble getting through the whole two hours straight. It's a lot outlandish set pieces to endure.

The films of director Ken Russell certainly aren't known for restraint, and The Music Lovers is no exception. In fact, every ounce of punch it delivers survives to this day. I recently showed this film, and someone present who was only a child when it came out couldn't believe it was released in 1970. In any case, the tortured life of Tchaikovsky (mostly because of his gay closet-case existence), as intensely portrayed by Richard Chamberlain, creates a compelling story that may not be as historically accurate as it could have been. Even so, it's high on entertainment value, and you won't be able to take your eyes off the screen due to the lavish production values, a grand score by the London Symphony Orchestra and one of Glenda Jackson's many astounding performances. This time around, she's Tchaikovsky's neglected wife. In some ways, she ends up stealing the show as her life completely and shockingly unravels. If anything, regardless of how one reacts to the indelible scenes in the The Music Lovers, the one thing it isn't, is forgettable.

The only reason for watching this biopic is to listen to Tchaikovsky's music. There are extended music videos set to the First Piano Concerto and the "1812" Overture. It could have used more of the composer's music. Instead we get embarrassing melodrama. Living down to his reputation, Russell wallows in tastelessness. While the events are based on known facts, the film includes such silly scenes as Mrs. Tchaikovsky having affairs with Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin to make her husband jealous. Jackson is alluring but she's too good of an actress for such camp. Chamberlain plays Tchaikovsky as such a ninny that it's hard to believe he could have composed such magnificent music.

One could argue that this is Ken Russell's most understated film. That said, it's still a struggle to get through at times though Richard Chamberlain gives one of his finest performances. One senses that for Chamberlain, decades away from revealing his own sexuality, felt a certain kinship to the Tchaikovsky presented in this film.Beautiful music and scenery aren't enough to carry "The Music Lovers" and it falls a bit short as it drags on to it's inevitable conclusion. Still, Russell does a much better job by Tchaikovsky than he would by poor Franz Liszt several years later in "Lisztomania", one of the worst of films of 1975.