Quadrophenia

I love this movie. Hell, I'd marry it if I could. It's my favorite rock movie with some British actors, who I really like, where in their younger acting years, they really impress, in a movie that can only be described as a faultless rock musical, masterpiece. Jimmy (Daniels) is a sixties rebel, who's so frustrated with his place in life. He has a courier job, is taking flack from his parents, that results in arguments, and he wants the girl his mate's doin'. We can relate with this character so well, us loners, where Jimmy's got a lot of bad energy, and it's going in the wrong places. Near the end of the film, he becomes such a desperate and pathetic mess, finally driving him to steal Sting's flashy scooter and total it off a cliff. Watch all the anger that pours out of Jimmy when he crashes his bike with a truck. But this is what Jimmy is, a very angry driven teen, and Daniels (one of my favorite British actors, and a bloody underrated one at that) plays him to a tee. I was thankful too, for the time a young Ray Winstone had in this, an old friend of Jimmy's who's popped back in town, and has decided to become a punk rocker, much to other people's disapproval, including Daniels. Two other actors from Scum have brief roles in this too. I loved the scene with Winstone, explaining and defending himself to Daniels in his backyard, a seasoned professional. The film, heavy on rock, is just one music pounding experience with a lot of bad language, where there are a couple of frighteningly violent moments. There's a foreboding of what crazy s..t, our unstable Daniels is gonna do next, but it's him, who sells this film. One notable feature is Sting's haircut. He's another rebel here with his own posse. Quadrophenia just managed to entertain me all the way through. It doesn't have fancy shots, though the long shots of a bleak Brighton were memorable, I felt so cold watching this town. It doesn't have fancy color, and the dialogue, isn't t the best I've heard. What it does have are engaging performances, amongst 60's culture, the environment, and it's conditions. With Daniels taking us through the story, it's one cool ride, and a cult rocker classic.

I hated this film when I saw it as a teenager back in 1979. The reason was the movie was realistic--too realistic! I identified (in some respects) with the main character Jimmy, and his life was bleak and depressing. Seeing it over 20 years later, I love it! It's a superb mix of the 1960s British "Angry Young Men" films, the Who's great album and 1979 sensibilities. It's about Jimmy (excellent performance by Phil Daniels) and his friends. It takes place in 1964 London and there are constant battles between the Mods (Jimmy and friends) and the Rockers. The film is full of violence, sex, VERY strong language (good luck with the accents), anger, alienation...the works. However, there is a strong sense of humor (a break in at a drug store is hilarious) and it does have a (sort of) happy ending. But it is very dark and depressing.

The music score is excellent. It's not just the Who, but other 1960s groups are used also. The direction by Franc Roddam is wonderful--it perfectly merges the music, imagery and story (especially with "Love, Reign Over Me"). My only real complaint--why not use the whole album "Quadrophenia"? Only about 1/8 of the two record set is used! Also interesting to see Sting in his first movie. Don't miss this one!

From the creator of Masterchef, here is something Franc Roddam made earlier.

A film about being young in the 1960s, being part of the Mod subculture and alienation and angst with some good tunes. There are a lot of future cast members of Eastenders and The Bill.

Phil Daniels gives a career defining performance that should had got an Oscar nomination as Jimmy who has a mundane job, boring home life with parents who do not understand him. Jimmy lives for the weekend clubbing with friends, popping pills and getting into scrapes with his mates.

Jimmy and his friends go off to a bank holiday weekend in Brighton, he wants to get close with girlfriend Steph (Lesley Ash.) He is in awe of cool dude Ace Face (Sting) and gets in a rumble with Greasers.

However Jimmy gets more disillusioned losing his job, friends and family. Seeing Ace face as just an ordinary bell boy sends him to the edge.

The film quickly became a cult classic, This Who produced film led to the revival of the late 1970s & early 1980s mod scene.

It has some cool tracks, a lot of humour, earthy language and a cast of now familiar actors. In a sense it's like a British version of Saturday Night Fever.

Director Franc Roddam gives this drama a sense of rawness and some vitality when you see the action scenes in Brighton.

Quadrophenia (1979)

*** (out of 4)

The Who's 1973 rock opera was turned into a feature film and centers on Jimmy (Phil Daniels), a teenager in the U.K. who deals with a wide range of issues but most of them surrounding growing up in the era. QUADROPHENIA, the album, is considered one of the band's greatest as well as one of the greatest ever made. I never was a big fan of the film TOMMY but I found this one here to be much better overall. I think the greatest thing going for this film is the soundtrack, which not only includes The Who songs from this album but we also get some of their older material (a memorable bit on My Generation) as well as songs from other artists. This soundtracks is certainly something terrific and The Who songs are put to good use here. Another thing working well is the performance of Daniels who perfectly nails this troubled character. I thought he was extremely believable from the start to the finish as he perfectly nailed the various emotions that this teenager is going through. I thought he was especially good towards the end once the guy starts to finally have a breakdown. Leslie Ash is also very cute and charming in her supporting bit. Director Franc Roddam doesn't add too much style to the picture but I found this to be a good thing. What the director does a great job with is the rawness of the picture. It almost feels as if you're watching a documentary on a real group of people because the look and feel of the picture are so on the mark.

One of the main criticisms at the time "Quadrophenia" came out was that it was noisy and violent rubbish. Quite how this opinion was ever formed is puzzling because the film I saw was a brilliant realistic portrayal of a mod in the 60's. The film has directorial flair, an excellent soundtrack and some underrated scripting and performances. It perfectly captures the angst and disillusionment of its protaganist to a level that has never been seen on film before or since.