Performance (1970)

Very well executed

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Captivating movie !

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

4/7/18. Somewhat disappointing. I read that because of the explicit scenes of sex and violence, it was released two years after it was made in 1970, and then to mixed reviews. Over time it supposedly reached cult status, simply because this was Mick Jagger's first acting role. I don't think he was acting, he was just being himself. So, now 48 years later, even through nostalgic lens, it isn't artsy fartsy enough to be considered art house to me. The documentary short included on the DVD was an interesting watch as people involved with the filmed talked about the movie.

TCM showed the old Mick Jagger cult film Performance tonight at 4am. That's one of the few movies I ever walked out on, during a midnight showing at either the Guild or Fine Arts in San Diego. I usually loved their midnight movies, but maybe we were either too high or not high enough to appreciate Performance. One of the other few movies I ever walked out on was Videodrome, and that was a free ticket I won on the radio - when I tried to re-watch it a couple of years ago, I still hated it. I suspected the same thing would happen again tonight with Performance, but I gave it a shot.I definitely "get" Performance a lot more now. They screened it as part of a Nicolas Roeg marathon (even though Roeg reportedly played a minor role in the actual direction of this one), along with other flicks he did about culture clashes like Walkabout (Brit kids lost in the Australian outback) and the Man Who Fell to Earth. I also disliked Man Who Fell To Earth when I first saw it new in theaters as a teen, and was quite surprised at how much I liked it when I finally gave it another chance a couple of years ago.When I first saw Performance, I didn't really know the context RE filmmaking going all LSD in the late '60s, or even who Anita Pallenberg was (she was living with Keith Richards, but played Jagger's lover in the movie, causing problems that kept the Stones from doing the full soundtrack). I can definitely appreciate what the movie is now - but I still don't think it's very good and would never watch again. Watching it felt like taking the brown acid at Woodstock -- you're glad to be at a great and historic party, except it kinda sucks to be there too --I should say the actual performers in Performance are quite good, even Jagger (before he became a parody of himself). It's just such a dopey script, insanely edited like someone just threw a bunch of film strips on a table and randomly spliced them together. The music is top notch too, I went looking up almost every song -- like Twin Peaks, I'd much sooner enjoy spinning the soundtrack than the actual show!

This movie is just plain terrible.Boring, drags on. I kept waiting for one of the main characters to show and it felt like forever.The only interesting part was seeing a young James Fox who was quite handsome in his younger days. Even the love scene is weird and yet a bit perverse.Story line is confusing. Character lines seem incoherent.Just awful in every cinematic way.Don't bother renting this one.After 15 minutes you will want to shut it off.

Fox is a London gangster who runs afoul of his mates and must hide out in the home of reclusive musician Jagger and his groupies. The film jumps into the story (there's minimal plot) without any exposition, leading to confusion, and the rapid cutting doesn't help matters. Once Fox reaches Jagger's place, the pace slows down but little of interest happens to hold one's interest. With his effeminate looks, Jagger is an intriguing screen presence, but is given little to do other than look androgynous. Pallenberg, quite a beauty, plays a drugged out groupie. This is an exercise in indulgence for debuting directors Cammell (whose career went nowhere) and Roeg (who went on to make some notable films).