Quadrophenia (1979)

Quadrophenia (R) - Review

"Talkin' Bout That Generation"

Jimmy is a mod.  He rides a scooter, lives and works in 1965 London, wears an expensive suit and is a counter culture pill popping menace.  Eschewing his family, his job, his love interests and his friends after a raucous Bank holiday in Brighton where the Mods and Rockers clashed and rioted on the streets, Jimmy meets and begins to idolize Ace Face, who to him is the perfectly heroic mod.  But when his image of Ace gets shattered, will it mean Jimmy has had enough?

Before Tommy, The Who had written the concept album Quadrophenia about life as a Modder.  Quadrophenia is more of a period piece than a pure musical, most of the music comes from real world sources (radios etc).  The soundtrack is fantastic (its not all the Who), the acting and scripting is better than expected (even as its drenched in teenage angst), even the look and period feel of the film has an expertise and love that goes unmatched in most musical film.  Once slickster Ace Face appears onscreen, played by a very young Sting, the film really stops being so episodic and comes into its own.  And yet there is a puerileness and pretension that comes with the subculture territory, leading to some agitation.  Riding around in clothes that cost you a couple months wages on a Vespa bristling with chrome and sideview mirrors, giving up the only friend that ever stood up for you just because he listens to the wrong music is a hell of a life ethic.  The road it leads down can only lead to questions of "Who are you"?  Do do, do do.

7 Dead Keith Moon drum solos out of 10 (GOOD)