Crappy film

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Blistering performances.

Quadrophenia is definitely one of the essential British films. If you want to get into British films this is definitely at the top of the list with films like Get Carter, A Hard Day's Night, Alfie and Trainspotting.The film is based off the iconic 1973 album of the same name by The Who. Both the album or (or rock opera as a lot of people call it) and the film are both fantastic in there own ways. The film throws you into an iconic era. London in the early 1960's to be exact. It puts us in the middle of the Mod movement through the character of Jimmy. A disgruntled young adult who wants to be somebody, hence why he's a mod. This includes popping pills like they are tic tacs, fighting the Rockers (The opposing group to the Mods), having sex, swearing like there is no tomorrow and trying to fit in. To briefly finish as if you haven't seen this film you should really watch it. Here is 3 reasons why you should watch Quadrophenia. 1. The direction and cinematography. Frank Roddam who directed documentaries before this film came out was the perfect choice. The film has a social realist/documentary style yet it still looks stylistic to an extent. The lenses used gives the lighting in night scenes a beautiful look. 2. The cast. Full of British actors we all know and love. Phil Daniels. Who plays the anti-hero Jimmy. Then there is Phillip Davies, Lesley Ash, Mark Wingett, Toyah Wilcox, Ray Winstone and even singer Sting. The cast is huge and diverse. That alone warrants a watch. 3. The soundtrack. As I said the album is fantastic and It is great that the majority of songs are in the film. It adds the rock edge to the film. And there are some nice additions of songs like Be my Baby etc. Even there is a use of My Generation in a digetic fashion which doesn't make sense as the film is set in 1964 it doesn't take me out of the film. So if you have not seen Quadrophenia watch it. It deserves much higher then a 7.3. And it deserves to be seen by everyone.

Some films need to be watched to witness subtleties in the actors' faces, and other films need to be listened to as the plot unfolds; even now with all the technological wizardry, the dialogue is what carries the motion picture. Sadly Quadrophenia lacks both of these necessities. It gets 2 stars for the soundtrack by The Who. That, and the line about comparing Brixton to Calcutta. The 1960s should have been a good time, because WW2 was over, Europe was at peace, we landed on the Moon, and made huge gains in medicine and science. What we got instead was Kennedy's assassination, the Vietnam War, drug abuse, hippies, mods and rockers, and the sexual revolution. The upshot is Jimmy -- a loser at best, and a lost soul at worst -- seeks to find himself by imitating all the losers around him. He has a job, but doesn't do it, he has a girlfriend for whom he feels nothing, and parents who somehow neglected to raise him properly. It's just awful. Simply awful with no redeeming value. Toxic.

Stumbling upon this eponymous tie-in of THE WHO's 1973 rock opera album QUADROPHENIA comes as simple as a happenstance out of a grab bag, haven't heard of the album and being an outsider to this period of mods fashion, it is a primitive yet purest experience to appreciate a film on its own terms.It is another REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955, 8/10) youth ill at ease, a telling zeitgeist encapsulation recounts a young mod's contradiction against the world in 1960s, his family, his job, his friends, his idol, and his love interest, all fail to gratify him. When the only thing he is left with is a revamped vespa, his destructive bravado indicates whether it is a resounding emblem of all perish together or a belated disillusion to bode farewell to his vapid and futile past? Fortunately the film chooses the latter (unlike the album's more radical stance), so it is a more generically pleasing alternative, but since our protagonist is not such a sympathetic character, a whiff of insouciance is irrevocable to eschew even in the culminating sequences alongside a magnificent precipice.The mods vs. rockers commotions play a key role in venting the discontent among sociopaths, anarchists and boredom-driven young generation, which is universally pertinent to elsewhere in the world, we may blame youth for their narrow-minded prejudices, but the adult world depicted here is no more appealing neither. Phil Daniels and his pals (Wingett, Davis and Shail) exude excellent street cred of the fashion, although none of them galvanizes me into any further inspection, save Leslie Ash's promiscuous lass, she is the only one seems to be cool about what's happening around and understand the ephemeral phase of idiocy. Sting has a supporting role as mechanical as one can imagine despite of his gorgeousness, and a budding Ray Winstone in his seldom seen role as the injured party of a brawl.The songs from the namesake album segues fluently throughout the film, nostalgia works much better in audio than visual this time I must say, it is a movie attracts its own cult followers and its socio-cultural astuteness may be worthy of a conscientious rediscovery if put inside a time capsule and wait to be exhumed a few more generations later.

I should say that the title is based on the name of the song by the band The Who, and they are a band that the lead character of this film likes, anyway, the reason I wanted to see this was purely because of the good looking cast list. Basically, set in 1965, London, Jimmy Cooper (Blur - Parklife's Phil Daniels) is a young man who lives a near reclusive life when it comes to his parents, his job as a mail room worker for an advertising company, and being part of regular society in general. He escapes what he considers the boring side of life by hanging out his fellow Mod teenage pals, including Dave (Mark Wingett), Chalky (Collision's Philip Davis) and Spider (Gary Shail), and they have their rivals, in the gang the Rockers led by Kevin (Nil by Mouth's Ray Winstone). The rivalry between the Mod and the Rockers comes a big head on a bank holiday on the seasides of Brighton when battles and rioting spread, and the police are out to catch all involved in whatever way. After "quickie" sex with long time crush Steph (Men Behaving Badly's Leslie Ash) in an alleyway, Jimmy does end up caught and arrested by the police, alongside the Mod he calls Ace Face (introducing singer Sting), and he gets fined £50, while his companion is fined £75 and mocking the court magistrate. Jimmy returns to London and becomes highly depressed, his mother throws him out for stashing amphetamine pills, he quits his job, spending his last payment on more pills, and he finds out Steph is now the girlfriend Dave. After fighting with Dave, getting a definite from Steph, and his treasured Lambretta scooter ruined in a road accident, Jimmy travels by train back to Brighton, and he is devastated to see that Ace Face is a hotel bellboy, and in the end he decides to finally end his life by driving near a high cliff, and eventually driving the stolen scooter off the edge. Also starring Toyah Willcox as Monkey, Michael Elphick as Father, Timothy Spall as Projectionist and EastEnders' Nasty Nick actor John Altman as John. Daniels as the young man with the love for 60's rock music, and Sting in his acting debut, along with the rest of the cast of young then rising stars in the British film and television industry, do really well, it is fascinating to see them all younger and making their mark for the rest of their future careers, as for the film itself it is realistic in terms of the time period, it has funny moments, it is filled with some dramatic moments, and it is certainly an interesting social drama. Very good!