Quadrophenia [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Franc Roddam Franc Roddam

Overview

This film version of the Who's rock opera Quadrophenia makes a few tentative stabs at "explaining" the alienation of 1960s British working-class youth, but its major selling point is its nonstop rock-and-R&B musical score, including the hit single "Love Reign O'er Me." Phil Daniels (replacing the original opera's Roger Daltrey) plays Jimmy, a member of a well-dressed, drugged-up teenaged gang called the Mods, forever duking it out with the cycle-punk Rockers. The rivalry between the two gangs comes to a head during three tempestuous days in the seaside town of Brighton. Here Jimmy makes love to lovely local Steph (Leslie Ash), and forges a strong friendship with unofficial Mod leader Ace Face (Sting). A series of disappointments and setbacks in his own London neighborhood convinces Jimmy to return to Brighton to pick up the pieces. If you aren't fascinated by the visual pyrotechnics of Quadrophenia, just close your eyes and revel to the soundtrack music of the Who, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, the Chiffons, Manfred Man, and many others.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/28/2012
UPC:	0715515097017
Original Release:	1979
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	2:00:00
Sales rank:	11,137

Special Features

New high-definition digital restoration of the uncut version
New audio commentary featuring director Franc Roddam and Tufano
Interview with Bill Curbishley, the film's coproducer and the Who's comanager
New interview with the Who's sound engineer, Bob Pridden
On-set and archival footage
Behind-the-scenes photographs
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Nick James

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Phil Daniels	Jimmy Michael Cooper
Leslie Ash	Steph
Philip Davis	Chalky
Mark Wingett	Dave
Garry Cooper	Pete
Toyah Willcox	Monkey
Sting	The Ace Face
Trevor Laird	Ferdy
Gary Shail	Spider
Kate Williams	Mrs. Cooper
Michael Elphick	Mr. Cooper
Ray Winstone	Kevin
Kim Neve	Yvonne
Benjamin Whitrow	Mr. Fulford
Daniel Peacock	Danny
Jeremy Child	Agency Man
John Phillips	Magistrate
Timothy Spall	Agency Projectionist
Olivier Pierre	Tailor
George Innes	Cafe Owner
John Bindon	Harry
P.H. Moriarty	Barman
Hugh Lloyd	Mr. Cale
Gary Holton	Leader of Rockers
John Entwistle	Composer
Pete Townshend	Composer
The Who	Composer,Composer

Technical Credits

Franc Roddam

Dave Humphries

Martin Stellman

Peter Townshend

Franc Roddam	Director,Screenwriter
Dave Humphries	Screenwriter
Martin Stellman	Screenwriter
Roy Baird	Producer
Bill Curbishley	Producer
Roger Daltrey	Executive Producer
John Entwistle	Executive Producer
Keith Moon	Executive Producer
David Gideon Thomson	Executive Producer
Peter Townshend	Executive Producer,Screenwriter
Patsy Pollock	Casting

Editorial Reviews

While Tommy was the Who's best-known concept album (and probably their best-known album, period), their 1973 release Quadrophenia was a far stronger and more personal narrative work, and while group leader and principal songwriter Pete Townshend allowed Ken Russell to turn Tommy into an entertaining but overcooked bit of pop-art lunacy, the Who kept far tighter reigns on Quadrophenia, and the result (produced by the group and directed by Franc Roddam) was an intelligent and incisive bit of teen-centric kitchen-sink drama. Though Phil Daniels' performance as the young Mod Jimmy never quite makes him seem as if he has a split personality, he does manage to make the confusion and chaos of his violent mood swings vivid and believable, and he's easily several steps ahead of the typical "troubled youth" of the movies. Equally memorable are Ray Winstone as Jimmy's rocker cousin Kevin, Leslie Ash as ideal Mod girl Steph, and Sting, who says practically nothing but radiates waves of icy charisma as the Ace Face. Cinematographer Brian Tufano and production designer Simon Holland give the film a hard sheen that's at once gritty and superbly evocative, and director Roddam gives the film an emotional gravity that sets it apart from the usual run of juvie fare from either side of the Atlantic. In short, this is a rare example of a rock-oriented film that's compelling and effective even if you don't like the music.

All Movie Guide - Mark Deming

It remains one of the most wrenching films about adolescent angst, thanks largely to the performance of Phil Daniels as Jimmy, a lower-middle-class 19-year-old whose identity as a mod is his only defense against a dead-end future.... In Quadrophenia, the music is the landscape, and the best aspect of this new print is that the sound still has the quality of a worn LP.

Village Voice - Amy Taubin