Quadrophenia (1979)

Director:

Franc Roddam

Writers:

Dave Humphries (screenplay) and
Martin Stellman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

2 November 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Music

Tagline:

Hell On Wheels!

Plot:

London, 1965: Like many other youths, Jimmy hates the philistine life, especially his parents and his job in a company's mailing division...

Plot Keywords:

Mods | Rocker | Scooter | 1960s | Pill

Cast

Phil Daniels	...	Jimmy
Leslie Ash	...	Steph
Philip Davis	...	Chalky
Mark Wingett	...	Dave
Sting	...	Ace Face
Ray Winstone	...	Kevin (as Raymond Winstone)
Garry Cooper	...	Peter
Gary Shail	...	Spider
Toyah Willcox	...	Monkey
Trevor Laird	...	Ferdy
Kate Williams	...	Mother
Michael Elphick	...	Father
Kim Neve	...	Yvonne
Benjamin Whitrow	...	Mr. Fulford
Daniel Peacock	...	Danny

Also Known As:

Quadrophenia: A Way of Life (UK) (reissue title)

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Ireland:18 (DVD rating) | France:-18 (original rating) | Australia:R | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1979) | Singapore:M18 | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | Finland:K-14 (1997) | UK:18 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Alley off the west of East Street, Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK

Company:

The Who Films

Trivia:

On the front of the scooter that Jimmy steels from Ace are the yellow initials "GS". These initials do not actually stand for Gordon Sumner, the real name of Sting, who plays the part of Ace Face. 'GS' stands for Grand Sport, a popular model of Vespa scooter in the 1960s.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Large numbers of passers-by are watching from the promenade during the filming of the beach fight scenes.They (and their late-1970's clothes) appear in several shots.

Quotes:

Steph: Going to be one of the faces?
Jimmy: What do you mean going to be? I AM one of the faces!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Human Traffic (1999)

Soundtrack:

Be My Baby

Near-perfect illustration of a music masterpiece

First, as you perhaps can tell by my name, I'm a die-hard The Who fan and have been for a long time. Listening to the original Quadrophenia rock opera is almost a religious act for me. I also have to add that I was born in 1984, and the sixties for me are some kind of paradise perished forever. I had to wait several years after listening to the album before seeing the movie. During the first half hour, I was disappointed how few of the music was in it, but then the movie began to fascinate me by itself, it really dragged me in. This is mostly due to the great Phil Daniels. It is his portrait of Jim that really keeps the film alive. He *is* the mod of the sixties, he shows in every single scene why they were mods and why it couldn't last. The other actors also do a good job, nothing spectacular, but solid. Sting is entertaining, too. There are several changes in the story compared to the "Quadrophenia" CD booklet, but they make sense and work well. It would have been interesting to stay still closer to the rock opera, but, regarding that, when the movie was made, more than a decade had passed since the time depicted, it is understandable that the movie makers wouldn't want to go totally "musical" as in the pathetic "Tommy" film. "Quadrophenia", in my opinion, is better than "Tommy" because the story isn't torn to pieces and then mixed with tons of whatever they had left on the cutting room floor; it is a coherent line of events with the songs put in in the right moment (except, perhaps, for the divine "Love reign o'er me"). Over all, the movie really thrilled me. It is a very good adaptation of the rock opera, but also a great youth film in its own right. Call it cult if you don't like it, it has deserved it.