Apparently nobody at Warner Home Video wants to comment on why Ken Russell’s controversial “The Devils” (1970) disappeared from iTunes after being offered for sale and rental for just three days. Was this a mistake? A test? Is the long-rumored DVD release coming soon? My e-mail has gone unanswered.
Now it turns out the hard-to-see “The Devils” — an 111-minute version that may or may not have the infamous scene of a nun (Vanessa Redgrave) pleasuring herself with a crucifix — is going to be shown four times as part of a Ken Russell retrospective beginning July 30 at the Walter Reade Theater. Brit bad guy director Russell is scheduled to be present for all evening screnings, including the opening-night showing of “The Devils.”
I haven’t seen the way-out “The Devils” — which popped up in January at the IFC Center — since a college press screening in 1970, back when it carried an X rating.