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The Music Lovers

The Music Lovers

Drama · Music · 1971

Composer, conductor and teacher Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky struggles against his homosexual tendencies by marrying, but unfortunately, he chooses wacky nymphomaniac Nina, whom he is unable to satisfy.

Movie details

The Music Lovers

“The music lover. He had a love of life. But was torn by it. He reached out for the sensual. And was burned by it. His genius demanded a price. And he paid it.”

1971 Drama · Music 2h 3m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.2 / 10

3.1K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

59 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Composer, conductor and teacher Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky struggles against his homosexual tendencies by marrying, but unfortunately, he chooses wacky nymphomaniac Nina, whom he is unable to satisfy.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Music Lovers?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Ken Russell

Written by

Melvyn Bragg

Richard Chamberlain

Richard Chamberlain

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Glenda Jackson

Glenda Jackson

Antonina 'Nina' Milyukova

Max Adrian

Max Adrian

Nicholas Rubinstein

C

Christopher Gable

Count Anton Chiluvsky

Kenneth Colley

Kenneth Colley

Modeste Tchaikovsky

I

Izabella Telezynska

Madame Nadedja von Meck

M

Maureen Pryor

Mrs. Milyukova

Court is in session

Put The Music Lovers on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.