Roger Daltrey is supposed to be Franz Liszt and we are to believe that Liszt had some vague religious principles which required him to bed only nuns in his later years, that Wagner was a sailor-suited vampire who died and was reborn as Frankenstein's Monster/Adolf Hitler, that the world Liszt graced was a rock opera, and that the intended audience for this movie is the self-involved youth of the 1970s who were -- or perhaps are -- incapable of conceiving anything other than their own self-indulgent, pornographic fantasies.

I have read two books on Liszt and one on Wagner which extensively covered their relationship. I now know less about Liszt than I did before I saw this movie.

There are lots of busty women showing off their naked torsos in this movie.

Ken Russell's "Lisztomania" is such an off the wall movie that it makes "Tommy" look like Mister Rogers' Neighborhood by comparison. Russell assaults all the senses in this film that you leave it exhilarated and mesmerized. This is a three ring cinematic circus and it makes no bones about it.

Roger Daltrey stars as Liszt, or a bastardization of the composer. Russell himself has described his film as "fiction based on fact", so if you're seeing this for facts, go far far away.

If you're looking for a one of a kind experience, this is the film for you. Among the more outlandish sights we see in this film are a pope (Ringo Starr) wearing cowboy boots and a pirate patch, a papiermache penis ravaging the countryside and Wagner being resurrected as a Frankenhitler monster. If you think I'm providing spoilers, baby, this is nothing compared to the rest of the film, which I will leave you to discover.

You've probably figured out that "Lisztomania" is not for everyone (how could it be?). What it is is a highly original and stunning excursion into insanity. It's Ken Russell's best film (his credits include the brilliant but unsatisfying "Tommy", the underrated "The Devils", "The Music Lovers" and "The Boy Friend" in which he out-Busbys Berkley) and a true movie experience. The Academy, naturally, skipped this film for nominations, but how could they deny this a Best Director nod? It's all about direction, anyway.

**** out of 4 stars

If you're tuning into Lisztomania hoping to find a biographical account of this remarkable composer, you're bound to be left bewildered and probably somewhat disappointed. For this is Ken Russell at his most self-indulgent, and anyone who knows Ken Russell will know that means a film of extraordinary vulgarity, obscenity, sexual innuendo, phallic imagery, anti-Nazism and more. Instead of telling the story in true-to-the-fact style, Russell has written and directed a film that relies upon allegory, metaphor and fantasy to point its message. For example, in real life Liszt was very popular with the public – in Russell's version Liszt puts on pop-star style concerts, complete with screaming female fans. The real Liszt was a confident womaniser – to symbolise this, Russell has him riding a twelve foot rubber penis over a bevy of scantily clad, open-legged women toward a giant guillotine that is used to sever his over active member! Liszt also had a strained relationship with fellow composer Richard Wagner (who married Liszt's eldest daughter) – in Russell's twisted vision Wagner is portrayed as a vampire possessed by the Devil, who dies only to be brought back to life as a Hitler-Frankenstein hybrid who shoots Jews with a machine gun disguised as a guitar (!)

Franz Liszt (Roger Daltrey) gives a bravura performance at a concert for his army of adoring female fans. Part of the concert features music written by a young upcoming musician named Richard Wagner (Paul Nicholas). After the concert, Liszt is confronted by his mistress Marie (Fiona Lewis),who is irritated by her lover's continual unfaithfulness with other women. Before leaving his mistress for yet another concert – this time in Russia – Liszt is asked by his daughter Cosima (Veronica Quilligan) to write a romantic piece for her mother in order to repair their damaged relationship. Liszt foolishly states that he would sell his soul for the opportunity to do so… and later gets his wish, when he meets up once more with Wagner, who by now has become the Devil and who vampirises Liszt. During his absence his mistress and two youngest children are killed in fighting in their native Hungary, so Liszt seeks love with a Russian princess, but their marriage plans are scuppered when the church refuses to grant her a divorce. Liszt is visited by the Pope (Ringo Starr),who tells him that the only way he can find meaning and value in his life is by tracking down his old acquaintance Wagner and casting out the Devil in him.

Don't say you weren't warned! A brief skim through this plot synopsis shows that Lisztomania is far from your average historical bio-pic. Daltrey is unable to carry the picture as the eponymous subject, but he is at least not as embarrassing as Starr, the Liverpudlian-accented Pope, nor Nicholas, the scenery-chewing, wide-eyed Wagner (these two performances are stunning in their awfulness). Better work is done by Lewis as Liszt's suffering mistress – she is terrific in a weirdly fascinating scene showing the rise and fall of her relationship with Liszt, done in the style of a Chaplin silent movie. Also, young Quilligan is surprisingly effective – and creepy – as his voodoo practising daughter. Russell shows no restraint whatsoever, and indulges in some of the most vulgar and tasteless sequences of his vulgar and tasteless career, but his visual assault does at least manage to convey some powerful cinematic images. These startling images alone are not enough to make Lisztomania a good film, but it can certainly be viewed on the level of a uniquely outrageous failure.