text: Julian Sands had recently made A Room with a View with James Ivory and compared that director with Russell saying, "If James Ivory had done a film about Shelley, it would be a much more lyrical and soothing piece of work, whereas Ken's treatment is much more symphonic and mesmerizing. With James Ivory you are on a carousel, but with Ken Russell you are on a roller coaster. James Ivory is like an Indian miniaturist, and Ken Russell is a graffiti artist. James Ivory is like an ornithologist watching his subjects with a pair of binoculars from afar, whereas Ken Russell is a big-game hunter filming in the middle of a rhino charge."
  Natasha Richardson found shooting difficult. "I myself was sort of shattered by the end. It became difficult to turn off and turn on. We'd get to the umpteenth take, and I just couldn't stop crying between takes."
  The film's music score was written and recorded by the English new wave and synth-pop musician Thomas Dolby. "It was my first attempt to write orchestral music," Dolby said. "Ken was great to work with - he gave me lots of freedom. In fact, he just wanted everything louder!"
  Dolby's score was released as the soundtrack album Music from the film Gothic in 1987. The album's closing track, "The Devil is an Englishman", was released as a single; credited to "Screamin' Lord Byron," the song features Timothy Spall reciting lyrics over Dolby's music and also includes vocal samples from Gothic.
  Release
  The film had its world premiere at the London Film Festival.
  The film was released in the United States by Vestron Pictures.