Quadrophenia (film) Totally Explained

Everything about Quadrophenia Film totally explained

Quadrophenia is a 1979 British film based on the 1973 rock opera album Quadrophenia by The Who. The film stars Phil Daniels in the leading role as a Mod named Jimmy. The film also stars Toyah Willcox, Mark Wingett, Leslie Ash, Ray Winstone, Timothy Spall, Phil Davis, Michael Elphick, Kate Williams, Sting, Gary Shail and John Altman. It was directed by Franc Roddam in his feature directing debut.
In 2004 the magazine Total Film named Quadrophenia the 35th greatest British film of all time.
The cast of this movie were reunited after 28 years at Earls Court on 1st and 2nd September 2007 as part of 'The Quadrophenia Reunion' at the 'London Film & Comic Con' run by reelevents.biz. Subsequently the cast have agreed to be part of a Quadrophenia Convention at Brighton in 2008

Story

It's London, 1964, and Jimmy is a member of a Mod gang (working class youths who imitate the attire of upper-class citizens, and ride Vespa and Lambretta scooters). The Mods are always fighting with Rockers, who in turn wear black leather and ride motorcycles. Disillusioned by his parents and a dead-end job as a runner in an advertising firm, Jimmy only finds an outlet for his teenage angst with his mod pals Dave, Chalky and Spider. However his angst and confusion are compounded by the fact that one of his Rocker rivals is in fact childhood friend Kevin (Ray Winstone), to whom he comments "I don't wanna be like everybody else - that's why I'm a Mod, see?". A three-day bank holiday provides the excuse for the rivalry between the two gangs to come to a head, as they both descend upon the seaside town of Brighton.
But when Jimmy is arrested during the Brighton riot, which was based on the real life "Second Battle of Hastings" Bank Holiday riot of 1964, his life begins to go downhill. He is fined and kicked out of his house by his mother, who found his stash of blues (blue pills of amphetamine). He then quits his job, blows his severance package on blues, and finds out that his crush, Steph is now the girlfriend of his mate Dave. After a short fight with Dave, he wrecks his scooter and finds out his idol, the suave Mod "poster boy" Ace Face (played by Sting), is in reality a bellboy. He steals Ace's scooter and heads out to the cliffs, leading him to an uncertain fate...

Response

The film was received mostly negatively by critics and was panned for its large amounts of sex, violence, profanity and drug use, which at the time were fairly uncommon in film. It did acquire a large word of mouth reputation amongst teenagers too young to go and see it. Today it's considered a cult classic and is recognized as a realistic reflection of youth culture in the 1960s. Many have praised Phil Daniels' intense performance.
It was a major influence on the mod revival in music and fashion which provided a launching pad for the careers of bands such as Secret Affair, The Chords and The Lambrettas while boosting the popularity of The Jam previously perceived as a punk act. Sting's appearance in it also benefitted his band The Police despite their music being wholly incongruous with traditional mod tastes.

Soundtrack

ť See Quadrophenia (soundtrack)

Production notes

Several references to The Who appear throughout the film, including an anachronistic inclusion of a repackaged Who album that wasn't available at the time. The film was almost canceled when Keith Moon, a member of The Who, died, but in the words of Roddam, the producers, Roy Baird and Bill Curbishley, 'held it together' and the film was made.
   Only one scene in the whole film was shot on the studio; all others were on location. Beachy Head, where Jimmy may or may not try to kill himself at the end of the film, was the location of a real-life suicide that influenced the soundtrack and film adaptation (Beachy Head is a well-known suicide spot with locals). The stunt coordinators underestimated the length that the scooter would fly through the air after being driven off Beachy Head. Franc Roddam, who shot the scene from a helicopter, was almost hit.
   An anachronistic Pelican Crossing appears as the police charge the Mods in Brighton.
   An additional anachronism exists during the Brighton riot scenes. Very briefly a cinema marquee can be seen in the background advertising the film Heaven Can Wait, a Warren Beatty film that was released in 1978. One could argue that this 1964 cinema was hosting a 'film festival', showing a 1943 film of the same title.

DVD releases

Universal first released the film on DVD in 1999 with an 8-minute montage featurette. It notoriously used the VHS print, which was extremely grainy and washed-out and full of print damage.
Following this in the US was a special edition by Rhino, which included a remastered but matted wide screen transfer, a commentary, several interviews, galleries, and a quiz. However, it was a shorter cut of the film, with several minutes of footage missing, so it still truly wasn't considered the definitive DVD of the film.
On August 7 2006, Universal improved upon their original DVD with a Region 2 two-disc special edition. The film was digitally remastered and included a brand new commentary by Franc Roddam, Phil Daniels and Leslie Ash. Disc 2 features an hour-long documentary and a featurette with Roddam discussing the locations. Like their previous DVD, it was the complete, longer version, and like the US DVD it was a matted wide screen version rather than the original full screen. (External Link

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