Quadrophenia (1979/Criterion Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: B Film: B
After the
unbelievable success of their Rock Opera Tommy,
The Who decided they would try to create another such work, but with a
different structure and approach. Pete
Townsend had written the previous hit, so it was in his hands again and his
choice this time of a lone man in an extraordinary situation would be young
Jimmy (played in the film version by Phil Daniels) dealing with the Mod
movement and bike gangs in the 1965 as the British Invasion was beginning. The resulting hit album would quickly lead to
the film of the same name, Quadrophenia
(1979) just ahead of the Music Video movement, New Wave music and New Romantics
movement itself.
That Criterion
decided to pick this gem up was great news to begin with, but that they,
Universal Pictures, Universal Music and the band itself have upgraded and
restored the film to the extraordinary lengths they have is stunning and no
previous theatrical film presentation (and certainly no previous home video
release) can even come close to this brand new presentation that brings the
film alive with fidelity and clarity that no one has ever seen before. More on that in a moment.
This was
the first feature film for director Frank Roddam, who had much fine TV
experience like Ken Russell (who directed Tommy
after he was established) bringing together the look and feel of the angry
young man films of the 1960s (foremost in the minds of many Mods anyhow) with a
new independent filmmaking spirit that was happening in the country at the time
from Monty Python to Alan Parker’s music films (namely Bugsy Malone and Pink Floyd:
The Wall) to Handmade Films among others.
With hardly any actual music numbers, the film can also be seen as a minor
classic in the Musical genre as being ahead of Hollywood’s MTV films like Flashdance and Footloose as the beginning of a little-recognized movement of
soundtrack-driven non-Musicals. None of
them had this film’s realism, of course.
Daniels is perfect as the good guy lost in a sea of little opportunity, parents
who are clueless, street guys not even trying to seriously consider their
future and an England
withy class division that will not offer him opportunities he would be willing
to take on and deserved if only he had the chance. It is also one of the last of the
counterculture music films from that movement with the blunt, honest sex, drugs
and nudity typical of that cycle, especially interesting as sop many films made
since the 1980s have tried to imagine that the period just before this was
somehow free of such things.
Another
plus here is to see so many actors who became big names including singer Sting
(just as he was joining The Police), Timothy Spall, Ray Winstone and a fine
turn by veteran actor Jeremy Child, plus a cast of new faces (many of whom
should have gone on to larger careers and did not) very effective
throughout. Roddam did a good job
helming the project, delivered a different kind of film than had been made
before and now you can really see just how effective he was.
The
period music along with the locations, costumes and production design capture
the period perfectly and with a sense of the feel of the time, while the newer
Who music from the Quadrophenia album offers narrative counterpoint as well as
narrative enhancement without ever making it seem or feel condescending like
animated radio or a bad Music Video (like most produced today).
Sadly,
this would be the last project with the classic line of The Who as drummer
Keith Moon passed away by the time this reached movie theaters. For many, that was the end of the band,
though they continued to record albums and tour to this day. They did make more studio albums, but no more
Rock Operas. It is more arguable that
this was their last great music work.
Now you can experience it for yourself.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer sometimes can show the age of
the film, but they have greatly cleaned up and restored it from a fine 35mm
interpositive of the film and with additional smart cleaning digitally, color,
detail and depth far exceed all previous video copies. When you consider only so many good full
length film prints exist of the film, you’ll find it hard to surpass the
performance this disc delivers. Director
of Photography Brian Tufano later lensed major feature films like The Lords Of Flatbush, Dreamscape, Shallow Grave (also now from Criterion) and Trainspotting. His work here
is very impressive, holds up extraordinarily well and he supervised and
approved of this transfer. It also
includes some nice demo shots, but expect grain in some shots and a few shots
that show their age more than others.
As for
the soundtrack, the original studio album was released as a 4-track
quadraphonic recording but not in the magnetic Quintophonic sound format Tommy was hailed as being issued
in. Instead, the film was originally a
Dolby A-type analog theatrical stereo release with monophonic surrounds and the
magnetic soundmaster of that mix is here cleaned up and restored in PCM 2.0
Stereo with Pro Logic playback that is good for what it is, but a brand new 5.1
mix of the film has been made that is also included here (the case should state
this a little more clearly) in part because The Who (including their studio
people) have been working on a 5.1 upgrade of the original album as they had
done with the original 1968 Tommy a good few years ago for a box set on Quadrophenia.
The
result is a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix that outperforms the
older Dolby System analog soundtrack in every way sonically, overall clarity
and dynamic range that brings the film to life like never before. Sound effects and dialogue are more distinct
and the music (whether it is the new Who music used in the film or classic songs
the characters can hear) are far superior and will stun the most diehard
audiophiles. Sounds elements from and
for the film specifically can sound older by comparison, but the differences
are minor as the mix blends all the elements together very smoothly into a
consistent, superior soundfield throughout.
Fans of
the album itself will be shocked how the music fidelity challenges even the
best vinyl copies of the original album release.
Extras
include yet another nicely illustrated booklet on the film including
informative text including two essays the liner notes form the original album
itself, while the Blu-ray adds a terrific feature length audio commentary track
by Roddam and Tufano, great 7+ minutes piece with Bob Pridden (sound engineer
for the band and on the Quadrophenia
album) how the recording was done on several analog tape machines (meaning some
elements were a few generations down on its original release) & how he took
all the first-generation elements to rebuild the album for 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
to make it sound better than ever before, Interview with film co-producer and
Who co-manger Bill Curbishley, 1979 BBC Talking
Pictures episode on the film with behind-the-scenes footage, 1964 French TV
show Sept jours du monde on the Mod
movement that includes The Who then at the time and Trailers.
For more
on The Who and Rock Operas, try these links:
Tommy original 1968 album, Deluxe
Edition with 5.1 Super Audio CD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1923/The+Who+-+Tommy+SACD+++Live
Tommy 1975 Ken Russell feature film on
Blu-ray in the U.S….
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10424/Tommy+(1975/Sony+Blu-ray)
Australian
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10866/TRON:+Legacy+(2010/Disney+Blu-ra
Lisztomania (1975) with Russell & Daltrey
as Franz Liszt in Tommy’s style on
DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11759/Ken+Russell%E2%80%99s+Lisztoma
Newer
stage performance of Quadrophenia
with Tommy on DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3113/The+Who+-+Tommy+&+Quadrophenia
- Nicholas Sheffo
