Mahler

Ken Russell's 1974 film Mahler centres on the Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler, who takes a train journey while revisiting the troubles of his life. Memories crowd in on the journey: a childhood marked by antisemitism, an obsessive fear of death, and his fraught marriage to Alma, a woman many years younger than him. The film moves between the present of the journey and the past, drawing on Mahler's inner life rather than following a straightforward chronology.

Robert Powell plays Gustav Mahler, with Georgina Hale as Alma, Lee Montague as his father Bernhard, Miriam Karlin as Aunt Rosa, Rosalie Crutchley as Marie Mahler and Richard Morant as Max, among a credited cast of 28. Ken Russell wrote the screenplay and directed, with Roy Baird producing for Goodtimes Enterprises, Mayfair Pictures and Visual Programme Systems. The British production runs 115 minutes and belongs to the drama and music genres.

Mahler was Russell's fifth film as director, following Savage Messiah in 1972 and preceding Tommy in 1975, part of a run of 15 films he directed in all. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7 out of 10 from around 3,400 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.8 out of 10 from 48 votes.