Quadrophenia - the film

[Kaka Tim]

Quadrophenia is at the low end of an average budget for a mainstream British film of the late 70s, which (not counting more expensive US co-productions) would have been between 2 and 5 million. It being a period film shot on location, money would have been tight.

Due to its controversial subject matter Scum was a British independent film, financed by a production company behind z-grade exploitation and avant garde films. It's not representative of average budgets for British mainstream films at the time and was closer to "no-budget" than low budget.

And Scum would have been cheaper to film - studio set, no period detail to worry about, smaller cast, no smashed up scooters, dont have to pay for sting's hairdressing budget....

 

[Kaka Tim]

Its interesting how Qaudropehnia's reputation has grown.
The film was pretty much pooh poohed by the critics at the time and the album was seen as goodish - but not in the same league as Tommy.
Its now become a major cultural landmark - I think the film made a very deep impression on a lot of young people at the time and agree that its one of the best depictions of working class youth ever committed to film (e.g i think This is England suffers very much in comparison) - maybe only Trainspotting comes close?
The film is now a cult classic whilst the Tommy film was aged very badly indeed (why the fuck did they let Ken Russel direct it is a mystery to me - bombastic nonsense. Someone like Nick Roeg would have done something way more interesting) .

Good BBC doc about the making of the album here -


and a doc about the film - (not watched this yet) -


eta - watched it now - very interesting how they made it - they were documentary makers hence the very realist style. They also link it with Trainspotting - (had the same cinematographer). Has a similar energy and edginess - and - like quadrophenia - has a brilliant and integral soundtrack.

 

[Kaka Tim]

another - more recent - doc about the film.


interesting stuff - during the riot scene "Chalkie" piled into a real copper mistaking him for an extra.
And the scene after Jimmy collides with the postman's van was completely improvised - and the postman was actually a stuntman - not an actor - and just went with it.

 

[ash]

another - more recent - doc about the film.


interesting stuff - during the riot scene "Chalkie" piled into a real copper mistaking him for an extra.
And the scene after Jimmy colides with the postman's van was completely improivised - and the postman was actually a stuntman - not an actor - and just went with it.

fuck off Mr Postie you’ve killed my scooter

 

[Reno]

...

 

[discokermit]

i worked with a woman who, a few years earlier, had a fight with a rocker woman at a bank holiday scooter rally at some seaside place in the very early eighties. her future husband was fighting the other womans feller and smashed him over the head with a milk bottle.
when they got married a short while after, her mother had a massive row with the groom because he was wearing black and white jam shoes.

i went to a picket of the tuc conference in brighton in the early nineties, cant remember why or really who with but there was a coach from wolvo. the coach dropped us all on the front. as we were walking along, my brother started quietly chanting "we are the mods" and we had a laugh. then me, my brother and my mate jules started doing it louder. pretty soon the whole coachload of us was marching towards the picket chanting in unison. we had never been to brighton before.

 

[Steel Icarus]

I was a extra in the night club scene where sting goes off the balcony .Filmed in the southgate royalty ........its my only claim to fame

Sting didn't go off the balcony, Jimmy did

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Quadrophenia is at the low end of an average budget for a mainstream British film of the late 70s, which (not counting more expensive US co-productions) would have been between 2 and 5 million. It being a period film shot on location, money would have been tight.

Due to its controversial subject matter Scum was a British independent film, financed by a production company behind z-grade exploitation and avant garde films. It's not representative of average budgets for British mainstream films at the time and was closer to "no-budget" than low budget.

and it was a remake done on the cheap. not sure of the budget of the tv version, but it's better in some ways....

 

[Nanker Phelge]

I was thinking about the film The Birth of The Beatles and remembered old Nick Cotton is George, then remembered that when I was school and my mate and I watched Quadrophenia all the time . I am sure in the scene around the scooter breakdown with the rockers it is intercut with a club scene of Jimmy and Co dancing and eventually ends up with the attacked mods turning up and the dancing mods all running to find out what happened. If you watch it careful Nick Cotton is both outside and inside the club in at the same time (and I think Jimmy goes from Sunglasses on to sunglasses off to sunglasses on during the same scene.

I'm pretty sure, we used to rewind and re-watch scenes to death. Quadrophenia was one of the first sell through tapes in the UK through a distributor called Channel 5 Video....who may have been the first to sellnew tapes at around £5 I think. I had started to buy films already at full price and they were damn expensive, I could afford one or two a year. I had blue velvet on VHS and it cost me a fortune. I used to buy loads from the video shop. Got a lovely VHS copy of The Loveless.