Quadrophenia

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.

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.

QUADROPHENIA is a cult classic movie that explores the life and loves of a Mod living in Britain in the 1960s. The lead character is played by Phil Daniels, a familiar face from British television, and he gives an exemplary performance as an awkward but likable youth struggling to grow up and make it in the adult world.

Produced by The Who, QUADROPHENIA offers as its backdrop a portrait of 1960s era Brighton and the like, where battles between the Mods and Rockers are just around the corner and a great soundtrack generally accompanies the action. I'll be the first to admit I'm not a huge fan of this era - I missed it by a long shot - but this likable drama paints a solid picture of the times.

It's also remarkable as a "before they were famous" movie, featuring performances from the likes of Ray Winstone, Timothy Spall, Leslie Ash, Phil Davis, Michael Elphick, even Sting before they hit the big time. Barely a minute or two goes by without a familiar face, and it's fair to say that everyone is putting plenty of effort into their performances. It's this level of enthusiasm all round which has led to QUADROPHENIA's well-deserved cult status.

A feast of future C-list celebs and also rans remind us why Punk was so vital in resuscitating the corpse of British music and why that cadaver needs more help than ever today; Quadrophenia demonstrates the absolute misery created by the fascist regime, that left the youths of the day with no future, with little to look forward to once they'd outgrown their primitive street gang days, and an underground movement that left them in a bit of a Jam.

Ultimately a culture destroyed by technology, as the Vespa riders, and just about all alternative identifiers of the day have chosen to play in the abstract digital world. A forgotten adolescent mainstream dispersed and scattered to the margins like so many other traditions and cultures of yesteryear. A classic British film - bring on the Bank Holiday!