The Filth and the Fury (2000)

Director:

Julien Temple

Release Date:

12 May 2000 (Norway)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography | Music

Tagline:

A Sex Pistols film - uncut, unseen, unbelievable.

Plot:

A film about the career of the notorious punk rock band, the Sex Pistols.

Plot Keywords:

Punk | Band | Sex Pistols | Punk Rock | Interview

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Paul Cook	...	Himself
Steve Jones	...	Himself
John Lydon	...	Himself (as Johnny Rotten)
Glen Matlock	...	Himself
Sid Vicious	...	Himself (archive footage)
Malcolm McLaren	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Bowie	...	Himself (archive footage)
Alice Cooper	...	Himself (archive footage)
Stewart Copeland	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ronnie Corbett	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bryan Ferry	...	Himself (archive footage)
Stephen Fisher	...	Himself (Sex Pistols' lawyer) (archive footage)
Bill Grundy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Eric Hall	...	Himself (as Eric 'Monster' Hall)
Benny Hill	...	Himself (archive footage)
Billy Idol	...	Himself (archive footage)
David Johansen	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jordan	...	Herself (archive footage)
Nick Kent	...	Himself (music journalist) (archive footage)
Shane MacGowan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Freddie Mercury	...	Himself (archive footage)
New York Dolls	...	Themselves (archive footage)
Laurence Olivier	...	Himself (archive footage)
Queen Elizabeth II	...	Herself (archive footage)
Roxy Music	...	Themselves (archive footage)
Steven Severin	...	Himself (as Siouxsie and the Banshees)
Siouxsie Sioux	...	Herself (archive footage)
Nancy Spungen	...	Herself (archive footage)
Rod Stewart	...	Himself (archive footage)
Sting	...	Himself (archive footage)
Andy Summers	...	Himself (archive footage)
Johnny Thunders	...	Himself (archive footage)
Helen Wellington-Lloyd	...	Herself (archive footage)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive strong language, drugs and sexual content.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Australia:MA | France:U | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Spain:18

Company:

FilmFour

Quotes:

John Lydon: [remembering Sid Vicious] All's I can tell you is I could take on England, but I couldn't take on one heroin addict.

Movie Connections:

Features D.O.A. (1980)

Soundtrack:

Seventeen

Revisit Anarchy in the UK

This film is a documentary about one of the most influential (certainly one of the most controversial) bands in music history: The Sex Pistols.

During their brief career, the Sex Pistols defined the genre of music called Punk Rock. The film details the situation in Britain at the end of the 1970s, where widespread dissatisfaction and alienation, combined with a very dull music scene, helped fuel the anger and craziness of Punk, which, according to John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten), gave a voice to people who previously didn't have a voice.

The film is a collection of present day interviews with the surviving members of the band (given in silhouette, for some reason), archive footage from concerts and TV appearances, vintage movie clips (notably Laurence Olivier as Richard the Third) and surreal animation.

The film mostly sidelines the Pistols' notoriously self-aggrandising manager Malcolm McLaran to concentrate on the band members themselves. The movie gives a good insight into an often quite disturbing world and a scene that was truly anarchic and exciting, whether you were a fan or not. There are also moments of genuine sadness, for example when Lydon talks about his friend, the late Sid Vicious.

This is recommended to anyone interested in popular music, or anyone who wants to see what real Punk was all about.