Quadrophenia columbus ohio

Disenchantment with adulthood and responsability hits harder than fists or kicks in the head for a real Mod like Jimmy. A reckless youngman infatuated with the pleasures of his generation, vespas, italian suits, drugs and rock paraphernalia. Deep in my mind I envy him. He had his winning share, at a back alley, a climax, a perfect moment to live for. Hence destruction was unavoidable, there was no turning back, he had to kiss life goodbye with dignity, the kind of dignity winners never get to feel.

Pierluigi P Super Reviewer. Mar 24, As the s wore on The Who increasingly turned their attention from music to filmmaking. Here they filmed the final scene of The Kids Are Alright, in what turned out to be Keith Moon's last live performance.

After production wrapped on The Kids Are Alright, the group pressed on with adapting their other rock opera, Quadrophenia. In bringing Quadrophenia to the big screen, the band and first-time director Franc Roddam took a completely different approach than they had for Tommy. Ken Russell had a deep-seated interest in opera and classical music: he treated the material as an opera which just happened to have been written by a rock band.

The finished product was a divisive mixed bag: amidst some striking imagery and memorable characterisation, there was a lot of bad singing, over-indulgence and naff pomposity. Quadrophenia is more like a coming-of-age film which documents the rise and fall of the original mods. Its storyline interweaves elements of the rock opera out of album order, and its soundtrack balances The Who with other mod favourites like The Kinks, The Ronettes and The Crystals.

The film is around 40 minutes longer than the album even with several songs cut out, taking its time to set up the mods' aims, culture and modus operandi. To understand the reasons for this approach, we have to consider the changing circumstances of the band.

When Tommy was made, The Who were at the height of their power as a live group; they had both the money and the fame to be a little over-exuberant.

Four years later, punk had moved in and swallowed up the younger generation, leaving The Who in a no-man's-land between circus-act obsolescence and risky reinvention. After the death of Keith Moon, the band lost some of its live firepower, so that even if they had wanted to recapture the old ground, they could no longer drown out their rivals.

Much of Quadrophenia is about The Who trying to justify their continued existence by examining the foundations of the culture which launched them. Just as The Who were retrospectively described as the original punk rock band, so there is an attempt to portray the mods as the direct predecessors of the punks. There is some similarity in their characterisation, as gangs of young people with a unique dress sense, who eschew all authority and are generally unpleasant to anyone outside their inner circle.

Roddam even screen-tested Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten for the lead role, but he was dropped because no-one would insure him. Despite this earnest desire to justify themselves, the approach of The Who's surviving members is decidedly hands-off. Unlike Tommy, the band do not appear in person, either as themselves or in character for instance, Keith Moon playing Uncle Ernie with a worrying amount of relish.

We are therefore spared the prospect of Pete Townshend et al playing themselves aged 21, in the manner of Mariah Carey's excremental Glitter. There are only two occasions in which we see the band: once on a poster of Pete Townshend next to Jimmy's bed, the other in an early TV performance from Ready, Steady, Go!.

This strange sense of modesty is further reflected in the soundtrack, which was overseen by bassist John Entwistle. In Quadrophenia the songs are mixed right down to serve as background, rather than being the driving force for the action. When 'My Generation' gets played at the house party, you quickly get the mods shouting over it until Roger Daltrey's delivery becomes totally lost. The film is emphasising the effect which this music had rather than the band that created it; we have to focus on Jimmy as a character rather than as a vessel for different aspects of the group.

Although this approach may disgruntle purists, the music in Quadrophenia is still of a high quality. Of the seventeen album tracks, ten survive in either their original form or with very slight alterations - for instance, the new bass part and more definitive ending of 'The Real Me', which plays out over the opening credits. The three original compositions which Townshend penned are also up to snuff: they may be more deliberately incidental, but they still feel like Who songs, and the oft-maligned Kenney Jones manages to at least partially replicate Keith Moon's drumming style.

Quadrophenia is a character study of a confused young man, who attaches himself to the mods as a means of identity, but starts to go to pieces when they desert him. Early on in the film he meets his childhood friend Kevin a young Ray Winstone , who has just returned from a spell in the army. Jimmy has a warm bond with Kevin, but whenever his friends turn up he changes his tune and runs with the pack - right down to him fleeing the scene when Kevin is beaten up for being a rocker.

The central idea of Quadrophenia is that of youth-led revolution. The mods were the first genuinely post-war teenagers; having no real attachment to the world or values of their parents, they saw no reason to accept the old way of life.

The scenes of the Brighton riots are edgy and visceral, showing the gang mentality of both mods and rockers, and the cluelessness of the police who simply don't know how to respond t to a generation that doesn't care. When the magistrate orders him to pay a fine, the Ace Face played unconvincingly by Sting responds by getting out his chequebook, causing the whole court to erupt with laughter.

But rather than simply glorify the mods, Quadrophenia highlights the dangers of identifying with such a culture too closely.

Just as The Who only became truly successful after the mods died away, so Jimmy only gets to see 'the real me' when the scales have fallen from his eyes. Having been thrown out of home, jilted by Lesley Ash and his prized scooter wrecked by a lorry, he decides to return to Brighton. After a drug-fuelled train journey "out of my brain on the " , he finds the mods gone and the Ace Face working as a bell boy at the hotel they smashed up.

Alienated and depressed, Jimmy throws Ace's scooter off Beachy Head. The scooter, like the mods, is smashed beyond repair, while the fate of Jimmy remains unknown. There are a number of flaws with Quadrophenia. MartinHafer 26 August It also was co-written by Pete Townshend and some of the executive producers included the four members of the band. It's set in the early-mid s in England and concerns Jimmy and his group of 'Mod' friends.

Also, the Mods in this film are mostly angry, directionless and seem in many ways like precursors to the punks of the s--though with a much greater fashion sense.

Plus, I really cannot imagine punks riding around in motor scooters. But, they both seemed to share a love of violence, drugs and anger. As far as the plot goes, the film is much like the Mods--rather directionless. This isn't a complaint and the film deliberately chose to show the lack of structure and anger of the Mods. For the most part, these teens drink, fight, take amphetamines, listen to music and stay up all night.

Jimmy seems to be among the angriest and most likely to get himself killed. Later in the film, Jimmy and his blokes head to Brighton for a holiday and mayhem ensues. Exactly what happens, you'll need to see for yourself. As I said above, how much you like the film will depend a lot on you.

If you grew up at the same time and place as these hooligans, then perhaps you'll have a feeling of nostalgia watching it. As for me, although the film was well made, it was also unpleasant and I got a bit tired of all the pointlessly angry and disaffected youth.

It just wasn't my thing and it's hard to love a film where you cannot stand any of the characters. A few final observations: I don't think it was unintentional that the leading man, Jimmy, sure looked quite a bit like Townshend. The film sure could have used captions. I saw it on HULU and had to really pay attention to get what they were saying due to the accents.

There's also a bit of male frontal nudity--though considering all the violence and anger, I doubt if it's a film you'd show your mom or your kids!

Also, the music was very nice--the best part of the film, really. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote. 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. 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. 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.

SnoopyStyle 8 December It's 60's London. Jimmy hates his working class life. He hates living under his parents. He hates his boring job. He parties with his Mod friends. They ride their scooters, take drugs, listen to music, and fight their rival Rockers. Ace Face Sting is a respected leader of the Mods. I don't like Jimmy much although he has the right sense of bitter anger of youth.

He's self-obsessed, entitled, reckless, and careless emotions. It's a hard character to like but one that fits the time and place. His journey meanders around. The only recognizable face is Sting and I wish the movie has more of him. That would also make the final reveal much more compelling. The music from The Who is a bit before my time and it holds no appeal to me. While much of this may not be to my liking, there is an energy and a sense of youthful urgency with this movie.

Prismark10 27 October From the creator of Masterchef, here is something Franc Roddam made earlier. A film about being young in the s being part of the Mod subculture and alienation and angst with some good tunes and a lot of future cast members of Eastenders if The Bill had not go to them first.

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 and 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 Lesley Ash, in awe to cool dude Sting and gets in a rumble with greasers.

However Jimmy gets more disillusioned losing his job, friends and family. Seeing Sting as just an ordinary bell boy sends him to the edge. It has some cool tracks, a lot of humour, earthy language and a cast of now familiar actors. In a sense its like a British version of Saturday Night Fever and director Franc Roddam gives this drama a sense of rawness and some vitality when you see the action scenes in Brighton.

Jimmy Cooper works the daily grind in the mail room of a local advertising firm. It is a dreary and lowly position and one that offers him nothing that he wants from life. In stark contrast, being part of the Mod scene offers him identity, acceptance, attention and the chance to "be somebody". The big weekend down in Brighton beckons, with all the fun that comes with it, not to mention the chance of a run in with some rockers and Jimmy continues to live at night while suffering through the working day.

It was with some surprise and an element of disgust that my colleague reacted when I simply said "you know, I've never seen Quadrophenia" so I figured that I should probably make a bit of time to see what is considered a classic of modern British cinema.

Watching it I found an interesting film that successfully mixes characters with a convincing sense of time and place. It is worth me saying that I'm too young and from Northern Ireland so I have no knowledge of this scene or time but the few aging Mods I know assure me that it is not a million miles off the wider experiences.

So for me it serves as a snapshot of a time that has since moved on and has become more of a minor fashion statement than a "scene" but it is the strength of the film that the themes and characters are what keeps the film relevant regardless. Specifically of course this is evident in the troubled and confused Chr1st I'm middle-aged youth Jimmy.

The film convincingly portrays his neediness to be part of something to define himself, the joy of being there, the acting-out that comes when even within his group he is left out and the emotional collapse that comes when he fails to find anything to find the joy of being part of the mob in Brighton.

It is a well observed and surprisingly honest and critical depiction of the character and of the wider struggle of youth. To me this is the core of the film and it is a solid piece of character drama, written with a real understanding of the feelings of those of this age.

The period stuff is obviously very important too and the look, feel and soundtrack are all really well done and very enjoyable if you have any affection for any part of this culture and I do for the music. Daniels leads the cast really well with a performance that makes the film and delivers on the content in the script.

He is a tragic and sympathetic figure and I imagine that many viewers will have some experiences that can make them connect with his turn. They would have recast you tomorrow.

He ultimately rejects the whole ethos of being a mod — making your whole life revolve around sitting on a silly scooter. In the end, he had to jack it in to move on. The moment we walked out of the hotel to start shooting, we saw all these scooters and hordes of mods lined up against the seafront. It was amazing. Filming the riot sequences was really scary. After finally hearing the Pete demo of "Joker James", I realized what I didn't like so much about this version - it's too short and not complete!

The original lyrics for this song were actually written in While it's nice to hear Roger sing this song, I personally find the Pete demo much more interesting - and of course more complete.

Oh well I found that the Germany CD sounded somewhat smooth and vinyl like, but it lacked some clarity and definition in the higher notes. All the songs are great - it's "Quadrophenia"! Copyright , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , RWhiteFang All rights reserved. No part of this website may be copied or used for any other purpose without the express permission of the site owner. This page was last updated on Sunday October 03, AM.

Mini-LP cover. Glossy pictures and text from the movie.