The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (1980)

Director:

Julien Temple

Writer:

Julien Temple (writer)

Release Date:

12 March 1981 (Australia)

Genre:

Comedy | Music | Musical

Tagline:

The staggering story of the group who wrung the neck of rock 'n' roll

Plot:

A rather incoherent post-breakup Sex Pistols "documentary", told from the point of view of Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren...

Plot Keywords:

Sex Pistols | Punk | Mockumentary | Film In Film | Musical Performance

Cast

Malcolm McLaren	...	The Embezzler
Steve Jones	...	The Crook
Paul Cook	...	The Tea-Maker
Sid Vicious	...	The Gimmick
John Lydon	...	The Collaborator (as Johnny Rotten)
Ronald Biggs	...	The Exile (as Ronnie Biggs)
Liz Fraser	...	Woman in Cinema
Jess Conrad	...	Jess
Mary Millington	...	Mary, The Crook's girlfriend
James Aubrey	...	B.J
Julian Holloway	...	Man
Johnny Shannon	...	Man in Prison Cage
Helen Wellington-Lloyd	...	Helen (as Helen of Troy)
Edward Tudor-Pole	...	Tadpole (kiosk attendant) (as Tenpole Tudor)
Faye Hart	...	Secretary

Also Known As:

Who Killed Bambi? (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:103 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-14 | Singapore:M18 | France:-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Australia:R

Filming Locations:

Highgate Cemetery, Swain's Lane, Highgate, London, England, UK

Company:

Boyd's Company

Trivia:

Marianne Faithfull was to play Sid's mother, but backed out at the idea of a sex scene. The role was rewritten and Sid's real mother, Anne Ritchie, appears in the audience during the climactic performance of "My Way" (and is the first person he shoots).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Towards the end of Sid Vicious' Punk rendition of Paul Anka/Frank Sinatra's "My Way", he pulls a revolver out of his pocket and starts shooting at the audience. He fires eight shots, which is more bullets than a revolver can hold.

Quotes:

The Gimmick: And now, the end is near, and so I face- the final curtain. Ha ha ha!

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Filth and the Fury (2000)

yeah, swindle. for real. rotters

after seeing John Lydon break down over the senseless exploitation of sid vicious when he absolutely hit bottom in Temple's other sex pistols film "The Filth and the Fury," he must have wanted to disown this little piece of trashy lucre. the finale with its spinning headlines and the anka-fueled massacre are just the tips of the iceberg on the meaty, excessive collage film assembled here.

the star on board is mclaren, in full sleazeball form. to the unsuspecting eye, it seems like an act. it is, of course, until you realize that it's the same act he kept up in the public eye for years, while running his little pet project dry. mclaren cut his teeth on theater of the absurd and fancies his managerial life a kind of kaufman-esque performance. the only problem is that mclaren often-times does not have the consent of his lab rats, a bunch of naughty British hooligans that called themselves the sex pistols (no, mclaren did NOT come up with the name).

therefore, it's partially amusing to watch mclaren credit himself with inventing the wheel in punk rock, and partially disgusting when you approach the subject matter knowing he gave nary a shat about the well-being of his bandmates nor the political and social commentary they, especially rotten, were trying to convey. mclaren was more interested in assembling a forefather to reality TV- life as nihilistic, self-imploding art.

the movie itself is not much. there's laughs here and there, but mostly it's a bloated and deadweight companion piece to "The Filth and the Fury," mostly wound into watchability by excellent live performances and some bizarre visual interpretations of songs (some of which seem hardly composed on a punk rock budget). "who killed bambi" (also mclaren's idea with none of the band members really interested in the idea) shows up in several parts and proves to be a quite pointless endeavor.

the majority of punk rock was not known for its rock star exploits off the stage (in fact, that was kinda the point- that these werent rock stars at all). if there had to have been a band to make a boisterous film with sex and drugs and midgets and animation and disco dancing, it's probably best that it was the sex pistols. overall, this film should be mostly reserved for hardcore fans, though others may find value in the sheer novelty of the package. but do yourself a favor and see "filth" first.