Flamboyant director Ken Russell's wish was for a Viking funeral

Funeral of a Viking, by Sir Frank Dicksee, 1893.
Courtesy Art Magick

"It is a lurid image to grace any of Russell's films: the conflicted Catholic film director leaving the world in a blazing pagan longship. And, unlike many of the projects of his final decades, it looks like it might actually happen. 'We will do one, even if it's symbolic, and even if we have to wait a while,' Mrs Russell said." Read the full article by Ben Hoyle of  the Times at the Australian.com.