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James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg, Michèle Breton, Ann Sidney ... see more see more... , John Bindon , Stanley Meadows , Allan Cuthbertson , Johnny Shannon , Anthony Valentine , John Sterland , Kenneth Colley , Eddie Calhoun , Erroll Garner , Kelly Martin

Even in an era of cinematic experimentation, Performance stands out as a visually daring major-studio film that deals with questions of sanity and identity rarely touched on in mainstream filmmaking. ... read more read more...The elements of Performance certainly looked attractive to studio executives at Warner Bros. -- a gangster on the lam hides out in the home of a reclusive rock star -- especially since that musician was being played by Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. But co-directors Nicolas Roeg (who also photographed) and Donald Cammell (who wrote the screenplay) had much more in mind than a walk on the wild side of swinging London. Chas (James Fox) is a sadistic thug who gains our sympathies only because men even crueler than he are out to kill him. After Chas arrives at the mansion occupied by Turner (Jagger) and his female companions Pherber (Anita Pallenberg) and Lucy (Michele Breton), what looks like a decadent idyll fueled by drugs and group sex turns into a series of mind games in which Turner challenges Chas' sexual preference and core identity. Even the film's one musical number, "Memo From Turner," is a William Burroughs-like monologue in which Turner fantasizes taking over Chas' role as a mobster, spewing insults to his colleagues. The film's cult status has been fueled by subsequent films of its co-directors (for Roeg, Walkabout, The Man Who Fell to Earth, and Don't Look Now; for Cammell, White of the Eye), which explored similar themes employing the same kind of jagged editing and striking visuals. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

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80% liked it

4,785 ratings

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90% liked it

20 critics

R, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: Donald Cammell, Nicolas Roeg

Release Date: January 1, 1970

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DVD Release Date: March 15, 2005

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Stats: 402 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (402)

  • brooklynspo
    July 23, 2007
    brooklynspo
    Cited as a classic by fans of cult movies, gangster movies, music movies and movie movies - I'd been jonesing to see this film for 25 years... and it did not disappoint.

    James Fox was great. Mick does a great Brian Jones. I gotta watch this like five more times right now.
  • fb1664868775
    October 27, 2011
    fb1664868775
    Roeg's first film is a strange trip with a deranged Mick Jagger.
  • matertenebraum
    February 10, 2011
    matertenebraum
    Gangland enforcer James Fox gets involved with decadent fading rock star Mick Jagger in Nicholas Roeg's and Donald Cammell's cult film

    Few films encapsulate drug-crazed Swinging 60s London like this one, though it was only seen three years after it was made and then heavily-edit... read moreed because Warners were shocked at what they had financed. The film exceeded the boundaries of good taste that always epitomized British cinema.

    This superbly shot, deeply disturbing, complex, often pretentious, often brilliant parable of confused identity was the first feature directed by leading cinematographer Roeg, sharing the credit with artist Cammell.

    An eerily plausible Fox, cast against type, plays Chas, a sadistic gangster on the run who rents a room in the Notting Hill Gate home of Turner (Jagger), a reclusive, sexually ambiguous, washed-up rock star. Fox, his antithesis, is offered women and magic mushrooms before literally swapping personalities with the singer.

    Fox abandoned the cinema for almost a decade after this film, such was its effect on him.

    Verdict A dazzling, ideas-rich, extraordinarily inventive full-stop to the 60s
  • ajv2688
    December 16, 2010
    ajv2688
    Mick Jagger plays a washed up rock star, which couldn't have been to hard for him to play. No, the performance involved is of the mobster who rents a room with them and pretends he's hip. This is an interesting movie, both if you're a Jagger fan, and if you want to see a movie ... read moreabout swinging 70s culture, and rock stars. I really liked this movie.
  • 366weirdmovies
    October 28, 2010
    366weirdmovies
    A British gangster goes on the lam and ends up hiding out with a hermit pop star (Mick Jagger) and his two girlfriends. There's a tremendous psychedelic scene, but it's pretty trippy even before Anita Eckberg sneaks amanita mushrooms into James Fox's salad; a confusing movie and... read more not a great or profound one, but the 60s spirit of experimentation is even more intoxicating than the visuals.
  • bottcorecords1
    June 16, 2010
    bottcorecords1
    Performance is a sloppy, unfocused mess whose biggest virtues seem to be it's psychedelic attitude and the fact that Mick Jagger co-stars. The star of the film however, is James Fox, who plays Chas, a strong arm for a small-time extortion racket. For some reason, the business o... read moref one of his old enemies is targeted for vandalism, and he's not included in on the attack. The old enemy holds him responsible though, and goes to his apartment for retribution (this includes, and I kid you not, writing the word "poop" on his wall and spanking him with a belt). When Chas murders the old enemy in self-defense (I guess), it becomes the biggest crime to hit London in the century and Chas goes on the run. He poses as a juggler and moves into Mick Jagger's basement. Mick has two hot euro chicks living with him, and they spend much of the film naked and making love. Mick is apparently a retired rock star, and he's living in seclusion while working on his new album, memoirs and film biography. I guess he's a sort of P-Diddy of the early 70s or something. Throughout the remainder of the film, a lot of other self-indulgent hippy nonsense takes place as Mick and the girls work their hippy magic on Chas, transforming him through the spiritual awakening of drugs and free love. Actually, I think I'm being unfair to hippies, as this film more accurately reflects the seedy, ugly side of the counter-culture that was so prevalent at Altamont the year before this film was made. There are a couple of scenes of interest, most noteably Mick performing an old Robert Johnson tune on an acoustic guitar, but overall, it's a tedious affair.
  • webalina
    January 17, 2010
    webalina
    A gangster named Chaz (James Fox) decides to go into hiding from his enemies, and comes across a retired musician named Turner (Mick Jagger) and his TWO girlfriends, all living happily in a London flat together. In the process, Chaz discovers that he and Turner have more in commo... read moren than he initially expected. This was probably considered more daring in 1970 than it is now. I've always hated the movie business version of the spaced out hippie/rock star lifestyle, and this definitely fits that category. It's a lifestyle that people imagine to be really cool, but looks kinda stupid when you actually see it in the flesh, and in this case VERY dated. Mick Jagger is basically playing himself (although the joke is on them -- Mick Jagger will NEVER retire). The one saving grace is James Fox. He is handsome and sexy and scary and arrogant. I would have much rather seen a film more about hiim as a gangster than the pseudo hippie he appears to have been here. There's a twist ending here that while interesting, could have been handled a little better. Not really exciting or sexy or...anything. Just...eh. OH -- I'd be willing to bet that Guy Ritchie can claim this film as one of his influences. You could drop Chaz into one of Ritchie's gangster crime movies and not miss a beat.
  • kenstachnik
    December 19, 2007
    kenstachnik
    This is a very cool British gangster psychedelic sex romp with Mick Jagger and some very nice editing
  • rayman0071
    October 16, 2007
    rayman0071
    Who would have thought that Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones tried to launch a movie career? He did in a big way in 1970. In May of that year,he played the title role in "Ned Kelly" which was a hard-hitting serious and violent western set in the outback of Austraila and directed... read more by Tony Richardson(which was a stretch),and in October of that year,he starred as rich overegotistical rock superstar Turner in Nicholas Roeg's
    "Performance". James Fox,on the other hand,hasn't had much with a screen career that began in 1950 with MGM's The Miniver Story(when he was billed as Bill Fox)and ended 20 years later with this decadent and over-the-top British cult flick.

    Once one of the most conspicious partygoers of the swinging 1960's,Fox gave up alcohol,became a born again Christian and a missionary,and a born again actor. Think about that when you see him in 1963's The Servant(whom he co-starred with Ruby Dee and James Mason),and 1986's Absolute Beginners!
    Here,he's gangster Chas Devlin,complete with a juggler's wild orange wig and sunglasses,who's killed the wrong man and is hiding out in Turner's basement. Like many films of that era(that exploded onto the impact of British cimema during the mid-1960's and throughout the entire decade of the 1970's),The Scene is more important than the participants' past. Anita Pallenberg and Michele Breton are Pherber and Lucy,two women,along with Turner and Chas engage in bisexuality,sadistic violence,masochism and magic mushrooms. "Performance" at one time was difficult to find on video for a good many years since the only way this movie was ever shown was during midnight screenings at selected theatres or special showings on college campuses. "Performance" qualitifies as a quaint period piece for classes that study 20th Century cultures and customs. Nicholas Roeg made the timeless "Walkabout" with Jenny Agutter in Austraila the following year while the other director,Donald Cammell went on to make other films including "Demon Seed" with Julie Christie in 1977. Mick Jagger never did become a superstar in the movies but he did went on to make some fine films later on. Roeg,in 1976 brought British rocker David Bowie to the screen in "The Man Who Fell To Earth" in 1976. And in this film who knew that the lead singer for The Rolling Stones could possibly act?
    He turns in a effective astounding role in his motion picture debut. Worth seeing.
    If you think for a second Turner and Chas give Pherber and Lucy rough trade in this film,wait till you see what happens to real-life groupies backstage with the Stones:It's dead kinky and a little sad.
  • shannylee38
    March 13, 2008
    shannylee38
    This is the kind of film that we have to watch at least 4 times before understanding it deeply. There are so many ellipsis that we do not follow the film chronologically.
    But i do recommend it because it is a British gangster film and they are ususally fun, crazy, and nice to w... read moreatch.

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Critic Reviews

Cole Smithey
April 18, 2011
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

[VIDEO] "Performance" pioneered a slew of modern cinematic techniques adopted by such master filmmakers as Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Quentin Tarantino, and Gaspar Noé. Full Review

Donald J. Levit
August 19, 2010
Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Comes across as pretentious in spots but has not lost its '60s hallucinogenic suggestiveness. It haunts like the dream just out of reach of the rational concrete. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
March 15, 2010
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

A grand Borgesian hall of mirrors Full Review

Pablo Villaca
April 10, 2009
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena

Em sua estréia como ator, Jagger surpreende pela intensidade e expressividade, ao passo que Fox, um intérprete já consagrado à época, impressiona pela coragem em protagonizar um filme que retratou com...

Emanuel Levy
September 21, 2008
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

A strangely mesmerizing, innovative film whose artistic stature has increased largely due to its absorbing look at British crime and art worlds circa 1968, and riveting turns by Mick Jagger and James ... Full Review

Douglas Pratt
June 15, 2007
Douglas Pratt, DVDLaser

the film reeks of Sixties avant garde style in an engaging sort of way and still comes across as a hip exploration of the kind of life us normal people can never have.

Walter Chaw
April 26, 2007
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central

We were always building monuments to our power and we always will be--performance is just one avenue to that same old immortality. Full Review

Chris Barsanti
February 27, 2007
Chris Barsanti, Filmcritic.com

The last half of the film is sheer nonsense, and less interesting nonsense than that which preceded it Full Review

John J. Puccio
February 11, 2007
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis

Sex, drugs, and rock and roll, Performance has it all. Full Review

Cole Smithey
December 12, 2005
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Meaty, dark and weird.

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