Films are hard to make and I think the word indulge really leads one to believe that it's an easy sort of business and it's really extremely difficult.

In 2003 he was a member of the jury at the 25th Moscow International Film Festival. The movie featured Richard Dreyfuss in the central role of Colonel Georges Picquart the French army investigator who exposed the army establishment's framing of the Jewish officer Captain Alfred Dreyfus. It was nominated for several Oscars and won one for Glenda Jackson for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

British film critic Mark Kermode speaking in 2006 and attempting to sum up the director's achievement called Russell "somebody who proved that British cinema didn't have to be about kitchen-sink realism—it could be every bit as flamboyant as Fellini. Ken Russell died on 27 November 2011 at the age of 84 of natural causes. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church.