The Who: Tommy

[phildwyer]

Just watched "Tommy" for the first time in 20 years. My God it's dark--I mean Pasolini-level dark. And it also seems to be Pete Townshend's thinly-disguised life story. Which makes it even darker. All that passed me by the first time I saw it, I thought it was just a jolly acid freak-out. It's a totally different movie in 2023.

 

[Silas Loom]

“Thinly” might be pushing it a bit, though, even if there are some telling parallels.

 

[phildwyer]

“Thinly” might be pushing it a bit, though, even if there are some telling parallels.

I reckon Townshend was confessing all, and no-one noticed at the time. Born in 1945, the sexual abuse, the bullying, suddenly becoming a massive star for a trivial skill, being fed drugs, inventing a half-baked religion, ending up a repository for everyone's fantasies, being surrounded by Oliver Reed and Keith Moon at their most sinister.....