Oh what a strange film PERFORMANCE is . It often gets praised to the high heavens but much of this praise is unworthy . It certainly deserves its reputation as a strange avant gard movie but believe me it's no masterpiece .
James Fox plays London gangster Chas and it's a hoot seeing Fox trying to play some tough working class cockney bloke . No doubt Michael Caine was written with the role in mind but decided he didn't fancy the location filming in rainy old London town . Certainly Fox fails to convince as a tough guy but this adds some much needed watchability to the proceedings
The best thing about PERFORMANCE is the portrayal of old school London gangsters . The movie was actually shot in 1968 but wasn't released until 1970 and one can't help thinking the trial and subsequent jailing of the Kray firm might have had something to do with the delay . I mean it's obvious the gangsters seen here are a bunch of violent homosexuals who stay stay in bed all day lusting over pictures of gay porn and it's obvious they're based on Ronnie and Reggie Kray . One can't help believing that if the Krays were found not guilty of the murders of McVitie and Cornell in 1969 this movie's release would have been delayed even longer
After a torture scene so camp you'd think it was filmed at a trailer park ( " Oh you like this you twerp " ) Chas finds himself taking on the identity of a juggler and staying at a safe house owned by a rock star played by Mick Jagger and it's at this point the film loses much of its entertainment value because Mick Jagger can't even play Mick Jagger convincingly and the vague story becomes static
A lot of people consider PERFORMANCE to be some sort of masterpiece but to be honest it's a slightly irritating art house movie with some crazy editing technique . Much of its reputation is built upon its homo-erotic air which no doubt shocked audiences at the time but seems pretentious and a little tame nowadays . Perhaps the only thing a mainstream British audience will notice about it now is that actor Billy Murray looks far older as a 27 year old than he does as a 60 something in 2006
James Fox plays London gangster Chas and it's a hoot seeing Fox trying to play some tough working class cockney bloke . No doubt Michael Caine was written with the role in mind but decided he didn't fancy the location filming in rainy old London town . Certainly Fox fails to convince as a tough guy but this adds some much needed watchability to the proceedings
The best thing about PERFORMANCE is the portrayal of old school London gangsters . The movie was actually shot in 1968 but wasn't released until 1970 and one can't help thinking the trial and subsequent jailing of the Kray firm might have had something to do with the delay . I mean it's obvious the gangsters seen here are a bunch of violent homosexuals who stay stay in bed all day lusting over pictures of gay porn and it's obvious they're based on Ronnie and Reggie Kray . One can't help believing that if the Krays were found not guilty of the murders of McVitie and Cornell in 1969 this movie's release would have been delayed even longer
After a torture scene so camp you'd think it was filmed at a trailer park ( " Oh you like this you twerp " ) Chas finds himself taking on the identity of a juggler and staying at a safe house owned by a rock star played by Mick Jagger and it's at this point the film loses much of its entertainment value because Mick Jagger can't even play Mick Jagger convincingly and the vague story becomes static
A lot of people consider PERFORMANCE to be some sort of masterpiece but to be honest it's a slightly irritating art house movie with some crazy editing technique . Much of its reputation is built upon its homo-erotic air which no doubt shocked audiences at the time but seems pretentious and a little tame nowadays . Perhaps the only thing a mainstream British audience will notice about it now is that actor Billy Murray looks far older as a 27 year old than he does as a 60 something in 2006