Russell once met Federico Fellini, of whom he had been a fan, outside an Italian movie studio. They approached each other and spoke briefly, complimenting each other by calling themselves "the Italian Ken Russell," and "the English Federico Fellini," respectively.
[concerning his style of biographical films] The whole idea had
degenerated into a series of third-rate clichés. I wanted to dress
people in old clothes and do it in a totally unreal way, and thus make
it more real than ever, and in the process send up this new civil
service/academic way of doing films.
