Quadrophenia (1979)

One of the finest British films ever made, QUADROPHENIA is a gritty and compelling study of the early 1960s mod phenomenon, originally released in 1979 as bands like The Jam were engineering a comeback of the whole parkas and scooters style fetish. Talk about perfect timing. I was five when all that was happening, and I can still remember seeing vast gangs of teenagers chanting "We are the mods, we are the mods" on their way to school. This film had a huge impact - even moreso when it was screened alongside the harrowing borstal drama SCUM (1978) on one of the all-time greatest double bills. The film tells the story of Jimmy, a slightly paranoid, definitely angst-ridden and certainly hate-fuelled young man desperate to escape his complacent background and low-status job by riding with the local mod contingent. For one reason or another, Jimmy just doesn't fit in. When all his friends have found female companions at a wild party, Jimmy is reduced to smashing up the garden with his scooter to relieve his frustrations. He seems to have a very childish desire to be the centre of attention all the time - when all the girls in the ballroom are admiring the 'Ace Face', Jimmy takes a potentially fatal dive off the balcony and into the crowd below. The only time he feels like one of the crowd is when he is part of the huge, bloodthirsty throng of mods who converge on Brighton one weekend with a view to beating up as many rockers as possible and causing a vast amount of criminal damage. But when he returns to London, his life falls apart, and the final half-hour or so is absolutely riveting in its unflinching study of a very confused Jimmy finally coming apart at the seams. All the performances are top notch, and the film whips along at a devastating pace, fuelled by the Who's wonderful soundtrack and Franc Roddam's energetic direction. Despite a couple of anachronisms (notice the double reissue of 'The Who Sell Out'/'A Quick One' in the party scene, long before either album was even recorded!) this is a striking and vivid evocation of a time and place that remains frighteningly relevant today. SEE IT.