A group of actors follow their daring director as he tries to make sense of Claude Debussy's life. Clearly influenced by Fellini and the classic 81/2, Russell reconfigured the Debussy story as a commentary on actors, onset romances, and the hedonist attraction to art and artists. Oliver Reed is fantastic as the composer, using his obvious sexual swagger to suggest all manner of pent up emotions and ideas. The main theme that many of these films explore centers on the lack of success, the inability to gain sponsorship, and the various addictions that derive from same. As with many of his subjects, Russell appears very interested in the idea of lust, from both a personal and professional angle. Much of Debussy also finds the fictional director Vladek Sheybal bedhopping with Reed's various conquests, the fame whoring element of said women front and center. It makes for a wonderfully dense and delightful experience.
