Overview
- A missing sequence from Ken Russell’s 1971 film, long thought destroyed and nicknamed the “Rape of Christ,” has been located by historian Mark Kermode and restored for a new cut.
- The uncensored edition premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, screened at the London Film Festival, and is receiving a one-week theatrical re-release through Clockwork, Warner Bros.’ revivals arm.
- The restored print runs 114 minutes and carries an NC-17 rating for nudity, graphic violence, rape, and torture, reflecting material that prompted the film’s original censorship debates.
- Vanessa Redgrave attended a recent festival screening and publicly saw the film in the form the director intended, a milestone for the cast and for efforts to present Russell’s original vision.
- Archivists and critics say the recovery alters assumptions that the excised footage was lost forever and is likely to reopen discussions about the film’s critique of church and state power and about historical film censorship.