DVD Review: Performance

By Frankie Dees Feb 16, 2007, 16:01 GMT

The film is uneven to be sure, and dated? No question, but that is all part of the film’s charms.

A visually dynamic, inventive piece of late ‘60s, early ‘70s psychedelic hokum that manages to be part cockney gangster film i.e. ‘Get Carter’ or ‘The Long Good Friday’ and part avante garde cinema i.e. Antonioni’s ‘Blow Out’.

‘Performance’ is an intriguing little blip on the film timeline for a few reasons, most notably for being the film that introduced Mick Jagger to the big screen essentially playing a version of himself. It’s a complex performance, though, and still holds up as his best (regardless of what all you ‘Freejack’ fans out there think) within his admittedly limited filmography. It can also hold testament to producing what could possibly be the first music video with Mick Jagger performing ‘Memo from Turner’ in a remarkably MTV fashion.

Written by Donald Cammell with uncredited help by co-star Anita Pallenberg and directed by Cammell and Nicolas Roeg (cinematographer of Fahrenheit 451 and Far from the maddening Crowd and who would go on to direct some significant films such as ‘Don’t Look Now’ and ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’), the film was somewhat revolutionary upon it’s release in 1970 and despite the obviously dated elements of the film, it still remains a fascinating and unique watch to this day.

To fully detail the narrative of this film would require the skills of two literature majors working in tandem but a vague account will have to suffice in this case and most likely be the beneficial take for aspiring viewers. It’s best for new viewers to just sit down and watch the film without going in with too much analysis.

James Fox stars as Chas, a stoic man of violence who seems to serve his purpose well yet even his gangster affiliates grow tired of him and look for an excuse to get rid of him. When his work becomes personal and he carries out a murder without his boss’s Harry Flowers (Johnny Shannon) consent, trouble arises and Chas must make a quick exit.

Attempting to forge an identity and passport to slip out of the country, he finds himself holed up in a Notting Hill basement with self-exiled former rock star Turner (Mick Jagger). Turner has secluded himself in the basement hoping to ascertain the loss of his powers or “incantation” which could possibly just be an excuse to surround himself with women and drugs and never have to delve into the “real” world, basically leading a hedonistic lifestyle where he’s slowly spiraled into some sort of existential crisis that he has no desire to break out of.

With a constant supply of drugs and sex (provided by his two female companions Anita Pallenberg and Michele Breton), Turner is able to slowly draw Chas into his surreal routine by introducing him to hallucinogenic drugs, androgynous clothing and homoerotic tendencies. This amalgam, of course, leads to a lot of psychedelic imagery where time and space stop and identities are easily confused. The last half of the film approaches Bergman’s ‘Persona’ on a thematic level but with much less restraint.

By the time the mob turns up due to the betrayal from someone trusted, coherence has long past and been replaced by an effective constant momentum of film tricks with a dizzying array of edits, slices and close-ups. Technically dazzling in scope and technique but will viewers be left with anything other than a seizure?

The film is uneven to be sure, and dated? No question, but that is all part of the film’s charms. It’s frenetically paced to the point where that slow-motion button may actually come in handy, especially during the first 40 minutes which focuses on the gangster goings-on but the film remains a rather lingering, evocative meditation on identity and what separates us. Two men who couldn’t be more different in pretense are drawn to each other, both exquisite “performers” in their desired field and it’s Turner who is turned onto this similarity first, curious to see if this violent gangster might be the key - the solution to his current purgatory qualm.

This is all played out in equal measure from script and capture. Cammel’s script would prove an infinitely fascinating read just to see how this all plays out on the page without the aesthetic embellishment because the identity role-playing is mostly conveyed through visual terms, using mirror shots and editing to portray who the current persona is.

A peculiar yet no doubt pragmatic perspective on the Swinging London of the late sixties when nonchalant sex and drug use was running rampant, Mick Jagger’s involvement is damn near perfection and with the involvement of Anita Pallenberg who was a former a Vogue model and most infamously known for banging three of the Rolling Stones (she dated Brian Jones, left Jones for Keith Richards who she was dating while she made this film and then finally had a fling with Jagger during the making of), this film proves as much as a time capsule as ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ and the disparity between the two films could make for a very interesting conversation.

The film is presented in widescreen and enhanced for widescreen televisions. Some decent special features include a new 25-minute featurette “Influence and Controversy” which features recent recollections from Pallenberg, Cammell and the producer Sanford Lieberson who all provide intriguing comments. It would have been nice to have Roeg and especially Jagger’s reminiscence on the film but I imagine Jagger is still in that basement somewhere…We’re also provided with a vintage featurette “Memo from Turner” which details Jagger’s involvement in the soundtrack and the titular sequence in the film and finally the film’s theatrical trailer.

‘Performance’ is a film with a distinct visual style that will either entrance or affront. The movie is not for everybody but fans of Roeg’s work, the Rolling Stones and avant garde will find a lot to enjoy in what is a non-linear, seemingly LCD-influenced piece of hypnotic filmmaking. It is a film that could easily lend itself to repeat viewings due to narrative and technical aspirations.

Performance is now available at Amazon. It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a March 5th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.