Performance is a 1970 British crime dram film directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Reog and staring James Fox and Mick Jagger. The film follows Chas a violent and ambitious London gangster who after killing an old fiend goes into hiding at the home of a reclusive rock star. Performance is a good weird, interesting unique film that fans of old school rock and roll cinema would like and should watch.
The direction in the film is good. Performance has good rock and roll style particularly in the intro as the film itself is word and surreal. The film has sex scenes showcasing the rock and roll excess of the film, as the film also a use of normality to has contrasting themes the film. The film has a good fast paced style to it as well as the film weirdly being a crime film that divulges into rock and roll excess. There are certain scenes in the film that are straight up surreal with the gangster talking to their judge as well as the film having genially intense scenes. The film interesting mix of realism and surrealism are great with a gritty style to it. Performance is a surreal gangster movie with interesting fast paced cut ins in there editing. Performance is a weird film with great tension creating a horror like atmosphere as the film has a great unique surreal atmosphere with fast paced cuts of people throwing re paint inside an apartment. The film is very sexual in nature which is showcased in the films intense and surreal nature. The film has an interesting POV shots to show dialogue scenes showing that the film has a unique interesting surreal nature to it, which is further shown with the rock and roll look and ascetic.
The film has a bluesy feel to it with its down o earth nature with is combined with a surreal otherworldly feeling to it. The film veery much has a 70s rock and roll style showing the characters as hippy burn outs as the film has very psychedelic feel to it linking into the 70s rock aesthetic. The film showcases themes of challenging and blending sexuality and gender. The film has a great mix of realism and surrealism with is shown with the film showcasing rock and roll-esc spoken world segments in comparison with surreal music. The film has great interesting visuals with Chas washing the red die off him as it drips down like blood as this counterculture feels is shown with the pop art in the bathroom. The film has a tribal film to it as well as interesting juxtaposition of a normal person interreacting with hippie culture. The film shows Chas getting sucked into hippie culture as the film comments on the culture changes in identity. This 70s hippie style is shown with Chas going on a psychedelic drug trip as Turner dismantles the idea of the drug trip. As the title of the film suggests Both has and turner put on a performance to ultimately achieve madness, as who they are at the begging of the film is not the truth as Chas is given a hippie makeover with religious undertones as Chas becomes a higher state of being. The film contains 70s hippie themes of sex, drugs, and sexuality. The film states that Turner has lost his demon a part of himself as the film uses weird surreal scenes of countercultural imagery. The film showcases how identity merges and blends with Chas becoming Turner and Turner becoming Chas. From this Turner becomes Chas’s boss as he talks to him in his office in a musical number, Chas gets the gangster to strip as he transforms to classic Turner and back again showcasing the blending of identity in the film.
Turner empties out bullets onto the table and smashes the gun into the mirror as he stands there surrounded by three naked bodies, as Chas seemingly becomes a rock star who must phone is agent, as the film is about blending of identity and that there is not true self. Chas ends up ringing his friend to get him out of the situation his in as his fiend his working with the gangsters to get him. Chas and Turner then lie in bed together and make love as Turner tuns into one of the girls as they have sex. This demonstrates the film is about breaking down the traditional perceptions of society things like gender and sexuality. Chas dresses himself like a Rockstar embracing his new persona as a Rockstar, as his gangster fiends find out where he is as he says goodbye to Turner and kills him, killing the originator of his new persona. There is a brilliant piece of imagery were Chas shoots a bullet through Turner’s head as shown with a POV shot of the bullet going through his brain and smashing a mirror with the with the judge on it and out into an outside transition. This demonstrates Chas killing both his old persona and the original persona and body of Turner and embracing his new on. this film ends with Chas in his new Turner persona leaving as the gangsters search his apartment and finds Turner dead as Chas is confronted by the gangsters as it implied, he is killed and hm and his persona will die.
The acting in the film is good. James Fox does a good job as Chas a East London gangster. Mick Jagger does a good job as Turner a reclusive and eccentric former rock star. Anita Pallenberg does a good job as Pherber a woman who lives with Turner. Michele Breton does a good job as Lucy another woman who lives with Turner. Ann Sidney does a good job as Dana. John Bindon does a good job as Moody. Stanley Meadows does a good job as Rosebloom. Allan Cuthbertson does a good job as The Lawyer. Antony Morton does a good job as Dennis. Johnny Shannon does a good job as Harry Flowers the lead gangster. Anthony Valentine does a good job as Joey Maddocks a betting shop owner. Ken Colley does a good job as Tony Farrell a friend of Chas’s. John Sterland does a good job as The Chauffeur. Laraine Wickens does a god job as Lorraine.
The writing in the film is good. The film starts out surreal with a car driving intercut with sex scenes, before the film switches to normality at the begging of the film with the main character Chas. Chas is a gangster whose job it is to rough up people for money which is cut against a judge with imagery like a porn projectionist showcasing the themes of sexuality in the film, as Chas and the other gangsters blackmail the upper-class for money. This gangster film character is shown with him and the rest of his gang roughing up a guy by destroying his bosses Rolls Royce with acid and then shaves his head. The film is a gangster movie to some degree with the gangsters talking about their work as Chas gets into an argument with the other gangsters that gets personal. The gangsters smash up a shop as Chas takes the shop owner as his boss is annoyed about going above his station, as Chas goes home and gets beaten up by thugs.
As they whip Chase the film demonstrates its sexual undertones as the film cuts to him being naked with a woman, as again the film also has some elements with Chas being beaten up by the gangsters and shoots one of them. Charlie packs up and makes a getaway as the gangsters are after him as the cops are after all of them as Charlie is on the run and talks to Harry as the films first act is a classic gangster movie. The gangsters are after Harry as she dies his hair red. The film showcases the rock and roll ecstatic with a black guy talking to his white mum, Chase overhears this musician talk about going on tour and leaving his rented room and therefore goes there to lie low as the film shows the start of the rock and roll excess at this point in the film. Chase ends up living with a bunch of weird hippies, led by Mick Jagger as Turner a washed-up hippie ex-rock star who has sex with hippie women. Chase ends up being look after by the hippie girls’ children and Turner, as Chas talks to his contacts about him having to lie low as he is in a situation surrounded by bohemian people prancing around. Chas doesn’t like hippie culture, but he doesn’t want to be caught so he crashes here. Turner confronts him about not wanting him here as his not one of them, but Chas manages to convince Turner as the film is about the different personalities people have and how they clash. This is shown with Chas being a normal person to Turner who is over the top and eccentric. Chas asks his friend to get a passport together to get out the country. Chas then talks to Turner and the hippies about using the phone as they can’t understand each other as the film comments on art and the personal distances between people and who that creates distance.
Chas gets sucked into counterculture, as the change his destroying his gangster persona. This destruction and change are shown with the 60s/70s counterculture movement of Chas seemingly in a druggy trance on mushrooms. Both Chas and Turner put on a performance to achieve madness as the woman pulls her wig off showing her true persona. His Chas’s gangster self in not the truth as they give him a hippie makeover as a girl kisses him and Turner reads the kabbalah, as through Chas’s intake of sex and drugs the film is about breaking down peoples perceived persona as people have a male feel and a female feel, however turner is sick because he lost his demon a part of his true self. Chas confronts Turner as Chas becomes Turner as Turner becomes Chas as they both put on a performance exploring each other’s identity. Turner as Chas’s boss talks as him in his office to his fellow gangsters in a musical number. Chas then gets the gangster to strip as he transforms into Turner and back. Again, people want to put on a performance to be other people. Turner empties out bullets onto the table and smashes the gun into the mirror as he stands there surrounded by three naked bodies as he has killed is old persona and accepted his new one, which is further shown with Chas seemingly becoming a rock star who must phone his agent. He rings his friend to get him out his situation as his friend and the gangster are working together to get him, Chas and Turner then lie in bed together and kiss and make love as Turner turns into one of the girls and they have sex as the film challenges the concepts of sex and gender.
Chas sleeps with one of the girls, as he dresses himself like a Rockstar as his gangster friends are tracking him down as he says goodbye to Turner and kills him. This shows Chas destroying his old identity and by symbolically killing Turner who embraces his new identity. This is further shown with a great looking shot as Chas shoots a bullet through turner’s head in a POV of the bullet going through his brain smashing a mirror with the judge on it and out into an outside transition. The film ends with Chas leaving as one of the gangsters searches the house and finds Turner dead as Chas is confronted by the gangsters and its implied, he is killed. This shows that no matter the performance and persona you put on you ultimately can’t run from your actions.
The cinematography in the film is good. The film uses newspaper to show information in the film as well as a good blue proctor effects to showcasing imagery. The film also as good use of overlays and an interesting use of footage like old porn films. The film has a use of fast cut in and a blue overlay. The film uses zoom cuts where the room becomes a black void which is a great transition there is also a good use of red lighting as well as a use of old back and white footage which seemingly looks like stock footage. There is an interesting use of fisheyes lens in the film as well as a cool use of POV shots. The film uses zooms and freeze frames with is interesting. The film has good use of slow motion and well as cool looking silhouette shots. The film has a cool green lighting effect as well as handheld camera POV shots.
The film has an interesting use of weird lens flairs and lighting and well as a cool use of mirrors. The film has an interesting use of tunnel vision and well as a cool use of close ups with mushrooms. There are some interesting, weird camera movements and zooms in the film as well as some interesting images in the mirror. The film has an interesting, mirrored effect on the celling being upside down as well as an interesting use of white flashes. There is an interesting use of zooms and flashes used as a transitionary effect going into a mirror as well as an interesting use of still images showing locations. There is an interesting and great shot of Chas shooting a bullet through Turner’s head as the POV of the bullet goes through is brain and smashes a mirror with the judge on it and out into a outside transition which is an interesting visual.
The special effects in the film are good. There is a good use practical blood effects in the film. There is also an interesting use of purple and red paint in the film with is surreal. The is a very interesting. A unique effect when Chas shoots a bullet tough Turner’s head as a POV of the bullet goes through his brain and smashes a mirror with the judge on it and out into a outside transition.
Performance is a good film and a unique experience that fans of cult cinema and classic rock and roll will like.