The cinematic synthesis of Ken Russell and the Who's Tommy is a meeting of the mush-minds, a resplendent union of the rococo and the rock of which each is master…. If Tommy, still so completely satisfying an aural experience, must be turned into a visual one as well, it now seems that the opera and Russell were meant for each other, or at very least serve each other well.

"Experience" is the word for this two-hour film, a medley of literal bits and surreal pieces, of psychedelic effects and romantic realism, of crude comedy and sophisticated suggestions, all eye-catching, most mind-engaging, some simply stunning, and a few merely bemusing….

The "mush-mindedness" of Tommy lies basically in its heavy-handed symbolism….

In wading into this irresistibly lavish spread, Russell begins with an update of the story, from World War I to II, with 1951, rather than 1921, the "good year."…. In detailing...