Mods and Rockers

It was only after it finished that I discovered why all the mods and rockers were very good at ballet, they were all members of a ballet company. Songs written by The Beatles are featured but they seems to have been performed by a jazz band, and not very well. A ballet film so you have been warned, the best bit is that it only lasts half an hour but you may not stick with it as long as that.

This is a quaint, but fairly meaningless, short. It is certainly not for anyone who wants to watch for insights into '60s, British youth culture; its fashions or it's tribal violence. That is unless you are after stylised ballet versions.

It is a sort of sixties exploitation movie highlighted by the fact that 'Music By The Beatles' seems to be given predominance in the poster and credits when, although strictly true, the music is an adapted version of Lennon & McCartney, Harrison songs. People who want to know more about 60s.

The film only lasts for 25 minutes and I watched to the end because I can usually find something in most films from the era that can be said to have appeal but I struggle with this. I suppose seeing a young Mick Fleetwood playing drums and a teenage Pete Bardens (Camel) on keyboards is a little but interesting but apart from that only the fact that it gives some insight into how most people, not involved, saw the culture clashes of the mid-sixties. A therefore sad little film.

So this is listed as a short movie? It's actually a dance thingy not a film at all. This dawned on me after nobody had uttered a single word and I was still watching a girl in gold hot pants wiggle her backside at two other dancing blokes. Quadrophenia this ain't.

Apparently this is a ballet production set to mod music, apparently the Beatles music is featured however this is probably just one track as the majority of the music certainly isn't up to Beatles standards. Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac also makes an appearance somewhere but unfortunately if you are after mods versus rockers action this ain't it. If you are after a movie where people use words to communicate instead of dance moves this isn't it either. It may have some nostalgia value but as a piece of cinema it's unlikely to hold your attention at it's 30 min run time. Maybe one for dance fans or people interested in the fashion of the era.

The other reviews here are, I think, a little unfair. OK, the music is not really ''by the Beatles'' ; it consists of dated jazzy interpretations of some of their early songs (the film was made in 1965); and the ''Mods and Rockers'' of the title are in fact a ballet company - because that's what this short piece is : a one-act ballet. As such it should be judged on its own terms, and those seeking any insight into the subculture of the mid-sixties should look elsewhere. Having said that the dancers are excellent, performing with energy and enthusiasm. All in all a pleasant enough half-hour of nostalgia for an era of (relative) innocence.

I also think that other reviewers are being a bit unfair, and taking too seriously this harmless pastiche of the '60s Mods and Rockers scene.

For those who have ears and/or were around at the time, there are several Beatles' compositions cleverly arranged in the music.

The one-act ballet is very lively and breathlessly non-stop (and observe all the secondary players rotating in and out of the sets); and the main leather-glad dancer not only harks back to "West Side Story" but to me presages Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever"! I certainly appreciated the gold-clad lass in the earlier part doing her wiggling.

I assume that this little "movie" was a filler in the cinemas back in the day. Just accept and cherish it for what it is.