Rent Quadrophenia (1979)

Cult British Teenage Rebellion Film - Quadrophenia review by GI

This is still one of the best teenage rebellion movies. A British social drama loosely based around The Who's rock opera and with a soundtrack from that iconic album. Set in 1965 it follows the life of disaffected youth Jimmy (Phil Daniels), who lives with his parents in run down London, he has a dead end job and only finds any zest for life in a gang of 'Mods', riding their adorned scooters, popping pills, and fighting with their rivals, the Rockers. This is a story of growing up, of heartbreak, sex, and realising the buzz found in violence and drugs is superficial. The big set piece of the film is the infamous battle between the Mods and Rockers on Brighton beach recreated really brilliantly and where Jimmy feels he has finally found his place in life after sex with the girl of his dreams Steph (Leslie Ash) but it's a hollow dream and he is brought back to reality very quickly. Ultimately a film about disillusionment. The film boasts an ambiguous ending and a cast from young British talent many of whom went onto bigger careers mostly in television including Timothy Spall, Phil Davis and Ray Winstone. Music stars Toyah Wilcox and Sting also have roles. This is a great British film and it's something of a cult favourite and certainly a film that worth seeking out if you've not seen it.

A Superb Classic Film set in West London 1964 and Brighton when the West Pier was still there - Quadrophenia review by PV

This is classic stuff. A 1979 film that is all the better for it.

You KNOW it's gonna be great when the woke TV announcer before it shows reads a massive trigger warning before it for all the oversensitive prissy prim po-faced wokiedokie snowflakes out there. Warnings of sex, violence, drug-taking and YAWN the usual 'contains discriminatory language which may be offensive'. WE:LL YES but in 1964 when London was majority white British, working class white kids spoke like that! And those words were DESCRIPTIVE not racist in intention, which no woke puritan even mentions.

3 writers wrote it - NOT The Who. A good move. The story thus has structure, plot points, acts, momentum, a story.

WHAT A CAST! The weakest link is Sting who is TOO OLD at 28. Toyah does her usual JUBILEE lisping totty act.

Timothy Spall here too as a dim card-playing projectionist at the ad agency. MANY more class character actors. Ray Winstone listed as RAYMOND here -his lead role in SCUM of 1979 made his name, and the great SEXY BEAST and more followed. Gary Shail, Mark Wingett, all familiar faces from TV drama since the 80s. Also an uncredited John Altman later Nick Cotton, Dot's son, back on Eastenders back when it was good. Trevor Laird playes the Jamaican drug dealer black character.

The new music is not the Who's best BUT what redeems this is how the film uses music of 1964 incl the Who's own on a TV show Ready Steady Go (The BBC deleted and taped over most of their Top of the Pops shows, to save money, to pay for chauffeurs for the senior managers...).

The late great Michael Elphick perfectly cast as is the actress who plays his wife Kate Williams.

Yes, people did actually live like this and London was like this, majority white working class and unwoke. White privilege? My foot! Meanwhile, these days in Goldhawk Road...

Nostalgia for many. Sad too.

A GREAT British film.