QUADROPHENIA IN JUNE

Rip It Up, Issue 34, 1 May 1980, Page 26

QUADROPHENIA IN JUNE

Quadrophenia gives us a disturbing glimpse of ten days in the life of a young Mod, Jimmy. Set in 1964, the film reaches its peak in the Battle of Brighton, that eruption of violence in which Mods and Rockers ripped into each other with a quite unholy vengeance. Jimmy is a quintessential Mod and his life is bound up in his scooter, his clothes, his pills, his four mates and his one great obsession is scoring with Steph, the young mod whose face could launch a thousand scooters. This is all taken from the Who’s 1973 concept album of the same title, and with Ken Russell's Tommy some years ago and the recent Kids are Alright, the Who must take the card for being the rock artists to make the biggest impact on the big screen and this is not even counting their charismatic appearance in Woodstock which is currently in revival. A lot of the credit for this powerful and disturbing film must go to director Franc Roddam, a recruit from television land (Pete Townshend had seen one of Roddam's television films and approached him to direct Quadrophenia). Roddam sees Quadrophenia as a political statement and has said of this film, "if people go around with the crowd they often make decisions which I think are

detrimental to society and humanity, so I would like to influence them.” There is an almost documentary quality to the film which is reinforced by the resurgence of the Mod phenomenon in recent years. Although I personally found some of the attitudes very hard to identify with and, as with many films of this ilk, the "older generation” are outrageously lampooned, one can’t deny the poignancy of Jimmy’s failure to gather together the tattered threads of his life. The name in the film is probably Sting from the Police who plays the Mod leader, Ace, but Phil Daniels performance as Jimmy and Leslie Ash’s as Steph are first-rate, as are all the others on both sides of the Mod-Rocker divide. Only the older actors sometimes suffer through the somewhat stilted scripting. The film certainly has all the "vigour and excitement” which Roddam was demanding of the new British cinema in an interview some years ago. The Battle of Brighton is handled brilliantly with a panache that contrasts with the unforced naturalness of the scenes with Jimmy and his mates or the disorientated dream-like mood of the last ten minutes of the film. That Roddam welds these different parts into one coherent whole is a testament to his skill as a director. The film soundtrack features tracks from the Who's Quadrophenia album, new and old Who songs and pop and soul hits from the mid sixties. All of which adds to the almost documentary tone that the film approaches, and probably makes the film work more satisfactorily as a dramatic piece. And it is certainly a dramatic film, and a very disturbing one. It deserves to be seen. William Dart

WE A COSTELLO WINNERS Winners of Costello’s new album Get Happy, in the RIU 'Put A Smile On His Face’ competition are: W. Seyb Dunedin, Paul Mason Clevedon, J. Marsh Wellington, Robin Anker Rotorua and R. Bishop Hamilton. Winning Elvis’ single “Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" (flip is "Girls Talk’’) and a Get Happy balloon are: Guy Rook Murrays Bay, Rochelle Nicholson Napier, Joanne Taylor Bucklands Beach, Lara Rowe Avondale and Michael Hall Gisborne. Winners of Get Happy balloons are: J. Falconer Gore, Jimi Gray Onehunga, Noel Macken Rotorua, Ms Wendy Wood Whakatane, Robyn Taylor Bucklands Beach, Toy Renouf Hamilton, Margo Scelotria Christchurch, Rosalie J Wellington, M. Jack Cambridge, Gary Meeson Auckland, Sarah Johnson Wellington, A. Castle Epsom, C. Robertson Hastings, Jonti Haines Tokoroa, Amy Reynolds Waiuku, Lei Aiono Christchurch, Julie Shearer Napier, Sue Perbia Kelburn, Angela Godkin Glendowie and Donna Bliss Kingsland. XTC ‘HURRY UP ’ AWARDS The 10 readers to receive a copy of XTC’s new single, “Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down”, courtesy of RTC records, are: R.L. Montgomery Christchurch, John Wilkinson Dunedin, Rochelle Nicholson Napier, J.M. Paris Masterton, David Maclennan Wellington, J. Matravers Whangarei, Bill Pepler Te Kauwhata, J.D. Evans Tauranga, Martin Kirk and P.L. Hobill Papakura.