Film review no.7 - Quadrophenia (1979)

Quadrophenia - 1979

Rating - 18


Director - Franc Roddam

Written By - Dave Humphries, Franc Roddam, Martin Stellman, Pete Townshend

Starring - Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Toyah Wilcox, Sting

Run time - 117 minutes


Quadrophenia is the 1979 British drama set in the 1960s and based off The Who’s 1973 concept album of the same name, but unlike the adaptation of their 1969 concept album Tommy, this film is not a musical and does not feature any members of The Who


The film revolves around young London mod Jimmy (Daniels), a mailroom boy who escapes from his dull job by partying, fighting with rockers, and riding his Lambretta. After he, his “girlfriend” Steph (Ash) and a giant gang of mods join in the mods vs rockers brawl in Brighton, Jimmy is arrested and his life spirals out of control. Steph leaves him, his parents kick him out and his idol Ace Face (Sting) turns out to be a bellboy. 


I'm not going to spoil the rest of the movie for you but it is truly a fantastic watch. The film is realistic to mod life in the ’60s and also has a fantastic soundtrack of course supplied by The Who. This was Franc Roddam’s directorial debut and would later go on to direct award-winning series and directed Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, and Masterchef. Along with Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, and Toyah Wilcox in their major movie debut too. Quadrophenia is an ambitious, empathetic, and perfectly raw movie which is one of my favourite movies ever.


Score - 10/10


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