A wild and imaginitive send-up of the bawdy life of Romantic composer/piano virtuoso Franz Liszt (played by The Who's Roger Daltrey). Director Ken Russell utilizes ubiquitous phallic imagery and devotes a good portion of the film to Liszt's "friendship" with fellow composer Richard Wagner. The film begins during the time when Franz would give piano performance to a crowd of shrieking teenage fans while maintaining affairs with his (multiple!) mistresses. He eventually seeks Princess Carolyne of St. Petersburg (at her invitation), elopes, and, after their marriage is forbidden by the Pope (Ringo Starr), he embraces the monastic life as an abbe. Often scorned by critics for director Ken Russell's metaphoric interpretation of Liszt's life (in lieu of a more literal one), Lisztomania plays like a trip through a fun house and contains enough symbolism to appease any film buff. eba Written by Jonathan Dakss