Performance (1970)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Directors:

Donald Cammell
Nicolas Roeg

Writer:

Donald Cammell (written by)

Release Date:

4 September 1970 (Finland)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Music

Tagline:

See them all in a film about fantasy. And reality. Vice. And versa.

Plot:

Chas, a violent and psychotic East London gangster needs a place to lie low after a hit that should never have been carried out...

Plot Keywords:

Superstar | Gangster | Lie | Photograph | Tripping

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

James Fox	...	Chas
Mick Jagger	...	Turner
Anita Pallenberg	...	Pherber
Michèle Breton	...	Lucy (as Michele Breton)
Ann Sidney	...	Dana
John Bindon	...	Moody
Stanley Meadows	...	Rosebloom
Allan Cuthbertson	...	The Lawyer
Anthony Morton	...	Dennis (as Antony Morton)
Johnny Shannon	...	Harry Flowers
Anthony Valentine	...	Joey Maddocks
Kenneth Colley	...	Tony Farrell (as Ken Colley)
John Sterland	...	The Chauffeur
Laraine Wickens	...	Lorraine

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, nudity, drug material and some violence.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

France:-16 | South Korea:18 | West Germany:18 (f) | Brazil:18 | Australia:R | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | USA:X (original rating) | Finland:K-16 (cut)

Filming Locations:

23 Lowndes Square, Knightsbridge, London, England, UK

Company:

Goodtimes Enterprises

Trivia:

Director Donald Cammell arranged for James Fox to spend time with real East London gangsters to help prepare his character.

Quotes:

Chas: I am a bullet.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Princess and the Gangster (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Wake Up, Niggers

When Worlds Collide

A number of Nicholas Roeg's films explore the collision of two cultures: Australian aborigine vs. urban Caucasian in "Walkabout" (1971) ... English vs. Italian in "Don't Look Now" (1973) ... and alien vs. humankind in "The Man Who Fell To Earth" (1976). "Performance" (1970) explores the collision between the world of a sadistic extortion artist and the world of a retired rock star and his companions. But the plot merely serves as a vehicle to convey compelling images and music -- the film is surrealistic and imaginative rather than realistic or film noire. At one point in the film, Jagger reads from Jorge Luis Borges's short story "The South," while his consort prepares a lunch of psychedelic mushrooms. The film touchs on BDSM sex, the harder side of the gay world, extortion, art, and imagination. Reality is not always what it seems. Jagger's performance of "Memo from Turner" is a minor triumph: "Remember who you say you area / And keep your noses clean / Boys will be boys and play with toys / So be strong with your beasts."