Performance (1970)

A violent gangster seeks refuge from the mob in the Bohemian home of a former rock star.

Directors:

Donald Cammell, Nicolas Roeg

Writer:

Donald Cammell

Stars:

James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Chas, a violent and psychotic East London gangster needs a place to lie low after a hit that should never have been carried out. He finds the perfect cover in the form of guest house run by the mysterious Mr. Turner, a one-time rock superstar, who is looking for the right spark to rekindle his faded talent.

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Plot Keywords:

basement | whipping | whipping scars | shared bath | pouring acid on a car | 

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Taglines:

Vice. And versa.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Donald Cammell arranged for James Fox to spend time with real East London gangsters to help prepare his character. David Litvinoff (credited as "dialogue coach and technical advisor", but actually pretty much "mob liaison") made sure he didn't get into any real trouble.

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Quotes

Chas: Was it sixty-seven?
Pherber: Sixty-six!
Turner: Sixty-nine!

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Alternate Versions

Warner Bros removed around 20 minutes from the beginning of the film before the movie was submitted and the BBFC (under UK censor John Trevelyan) then made a further 16 cuts, most notably to the sexual clawing during the infamous flogging scene. The 1997 Maverick Directors video release featured the longer U.S print and restored all the BBFC cut footage.

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Connections

Referenced in Ban the Sadist Videos! Part 2 (2006)

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Soundtracks

Gone Dead Train
Written by Jack Nitzsche & Russ Titelman
Performed by Randy Newman, (vocals); Ry Cooder, (guitar, bottleneck slide and dulcimer); Lowell George, (guitar); Russ Titelman, (guitar); Bob West,(bass) and Milt Holland (percussion.)

User Reviews

dazzling

Gangland enforcer James Fox gets involved with decadent fading rock star Mick Jagger in Nicholas Roeg's and Donald Cammell's cult film

Few films encapsulate drug-crazed Swinging 60s London like this one, though it was only seen three years after it was made and then heavily-edited because Warners were shocked at what they had financed. The film exceeded the boundaries of good taste that always epitomized British cinema.

This superbly shot, deeply disturbing, complex, often pretentious, often brilliant parable of confused identity was the first feature directed by leading cinematographer Roeg, sharing the credit with artist Cammell.

An eerily plausible Fox, cast against type, plays Chas, a sadistic gangster on the run who rents a room in the Notting Hill Gate home of Turner (Jagger), a reclusive, sexually ambiguous, washed-up rock star. Fox, his antithesis, is offered women and magic mushrooms before literally swapping personalities with the singer.

Fox abandoned the cinema for almost a decade after this film, such was its effect on him.



Verdict A dazzling, ideas-rich, extraordinarily inventive full-stop to the 60s

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 September 1970 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Performance

Filming Locations:

Wandsworth Bridge, Wandsworth, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP750,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Goodtimes Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1