Quadrophenia (1979)

Jimmy loathes his job and parents. He seeks solace with his mod clique, scooter riding and drugs, only to be disappointed.

Director:

Franc Roddam

Writers:

Dave Humphries (screenplay), Martin Stellman (screenplay)

Stars:

Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Phil Davis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Phil Daniels	...	Jimmy
Leslie Ash	...	Steph
Phil Davis	...	Chalky (as Philip Davis)
Mark Wingett	...	Dave
Sting	...	Ace Face
Ray Winstone	...	Kevin (as Raymond Winstone)
Garry Cooper	...	Peter
Gary Shail	...	Spider
Toyah Willcox	...	Monkey
Trevor Laird	...	Ferdy
Kate Williams	...	Mother
Michael Elphick	...	Father
Kim Neve	...	Yvonne
Benjamin Whitrow	...	Mr. Fulford
Daniel Peacock	...	Danny

Storyline

London, 1965: Like many other youths, Jimmy hates the philistine life, especially his parents and his job in a company's mailing division. Only when he's together with his friends, a 'Mod' clique, cruising London on his motor-scooter and hearing music such as that of 'The Who' and 'The High Numbers', does he feel free and accepted. However, it's a flight into an illusionary world.

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Plot Keywords:

sex scene | teenage boy | teenage girl | riding a scooter | rockers | 

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Taglines:

A Way Of Life [rerelease]

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 November 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Er du gal, mand?

Filming Locations:

Lewes Magistrates Court, High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Who Films, Polytel

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (Dolby Stereo)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The ending was filmed on the first day of shooting.

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Goofs

Jimmy's cigarette disappears between shots whilst handing pills to Steph in the café.

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Quotes

Peter: If you don't work, you don't get paid no money. And I like money.

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Crazy Credits

Jeans By Levis

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Alternate Versions

There are at least 4 scenes that have been deleted from the final film. These scenes have never been released anywhere in full, apart from on a short documentary that came with the 1997 UK video, but even then they are shown as photographs and not the actual full scenes. Most notable was the entire deletion of almost all of the dialogue from Ace Face (played by Sting), including 2 extended scenes from the police van and one of all the mods meeting up on their scooters before going to Brighton. Supposedly, the reason that all of Ace Face's dialogue was deleted was that Sting and the producers both agreed that this ruined his 'mysterious' character that he was playing and also may have taken the focus of the protagonist of the story, Jimmy.

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Connections

Featured in Drama Connections: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (2005)

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Soundtracks

5-4-3-2-1
Written by Mike Hugg and Manfred Mann
Performed by Manfred Mann
Published by EMI Records Limited

User Reviews

That's why I'm a Mod see, because I don't want to be like everyone else.

As the years have wore on, Quadrophenia has broken free of tagged cult classic status to emerge as a bona fide candidate for best British youth movie ever. The iconography of its main protagonist has subsided to let the core sensibility of the movies theme shine thru, this is pure and simple a perfect depiction of fallen youth during a heady time, a tale of ones ideology crumbling so sadly over the course of one weekend.

The period is captured vividly by director Franc Roddam, the stark threat of violence mixed in with the best music the 60s had to offer, serves to let the viewer feel they were there at the time, and the result is a perfect period piece. The story follows Jimmy {a tremendous Phil Daniels} on a voyage of discovery that is funny at times, yet also very sadly tragic, and for anyone who was once a teenager searching for identity and purpose........ then this film will have maximum resonance.

Wonderful 9/10.