Performance

R

Released Aug 3, 1970

1 hr. 45 min.

Crime

Drama

List

82%

34 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

After killing a rival in self-defense, hoodlum Chas (James Fox) must flee both from the law and from his boss, Harry Flowers. He eventually moves into a house owned by Turner (Mick Jagger), a former rock star who lives with female companions Pherber (Anita Pallenberg) and Lucy (Michele Breton). Chas and Turner initially clash, but Turner becomes fascinated with Chas' life as a criminal. Through drugs and a series of psychological battles with Turner, Chas emerges a different man.

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Critics Consensus

Performance is an exuberant and grimy ode to the sexual revolution, evoking cultural upheaval and identity crisis with rock 'n' roll verve and a beguiling turn by Mick Jagger.

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Audience Member

The frenetic filming style and the particular merger that is being advanced here of hard-baked gangster ultraviolence and a decadent, hedonistic, wealthy, bisexual and gender-questioning part of the counter-culture is a weird one to grasp. I had to start the movie several times and then rewatch several parts of it after viewing it all once to feel like I had even a beginning of an understanding. It really grew on me and sort of snapped into place. Definitely a period piece for '68 London.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Aged badly. One good tune in the film. The rest is a mess of a psychedelic film. All too odd to ever capture my attention. Was counting down to the end of the film pretty much immediately.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Enjoyed the first half but to me it lost it's way once Jagger became involved, deteriorated into something both boring and messy.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

William L

"Nothing is true, everything is permitted". Calm down there, Ezio Auditore. An inimitable blend of '60s British gangster flick and '70s psychedelic culture, Performance pushed the boundaries of more aspects of film than all but perhaps a small handful of others in the history of the medium. Genre blending, surrealism, cinematography, clever editing, and daring themes all feature prominently in this somewhat off-kilter crime film that gradually proceeds into the realm of a fever dream. Jumps from narratively familiar territory to a second half full of vague psychological musings that reflect the crash between a particularly violent strain of conservatism and New Age mysticism, the film has exceptional rewatchability thanks to its strange nature and the unusual performances from Fox and particularly Jagger. Unique and groundbreaking, even half a century on it still feels alien, even if its influence can be felt in films from the decades following its critical re-evaluation. (4/5)

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/04/20

Full Review

Audience Member

Frenetic editing and striking, expertly composed visuals help make Performance one of the most distinctive British gangster films of all time. And while the (somewhat) brilliant casting of a still-youthful Mick Jagger may have been the initial draw for many audience members, it was the idiosyncratic vision of Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg that has retained the picture's iconic cult status. A provocative meditation on identity and conformity, Performance remains a must-see, and amongst the strangest movies ever released by a major studio.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I'm not a fan of gory violence and this is made up of half brutal, bloody violence and half of psychedelic twaddle. I did think James Fox gave an outstanding performance well outside his wheelhouse. We learn why Mick Jagger did not become a movie star.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

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Donald Cammell

Director

James Fox

Chas

Mick Jagger

Turner

Anita Pallenberg

Pherber

Michele Breton

Lucy

Ann Sidney

Dana

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Adam Nayman

The Ringer

Critics hated it, and Warner Bros. barely saw fit to release it, but Performance has endured as a cult favorite. It's also arguably the greatest-ever big-screen showcase for Jagger...

Nov 26, 2018

Full Review

Kate Muir

Times (UK)

With a pleasurably peculiar cast of James Fox, Mick Jagger and Anita Pallenberg, Performance is one of the weirdest slices of Seventies London around, combining gangster violence and ritual humiliation with decaying rock-star glamour.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 23, 2015

Full Review

Keith Phipps

The Dissolve

For all its hallucinatory excesses, however, Performance is a film of ideas, even if it's happier to let them swirl around than attempt to explain them.

Rated: 4.5/5

Apr 7, 2014

Full Review

Eve Tushnet

Patheos

Unfortunately the film is mostly about the gangster, who lacks Jagger’s charisma and generally is no fun. And then the self-consciously disorienting style makes it even harder to care about what is happening.

Sep 18, 2023

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

... this collision of London gangster machismo and drug culture, where "Nothing is true; everything is permitted," is unmistakably a product of the sixties.

Nov 25, 2018

Full Review

Total Film

This hallucinogenic deconstruction of identity writhes with sex, substances, ultraviolence and good ol' rock'n'roll.

Rated: 5/5

Mar 25, 2013

Full Review

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Synopsis

After killing a rival in self-defense, hoodlum Chas (James Fox) must flee both from the law and from his boss, Harry Flowers. He eventually moves into a house owned by Turner (Mick Jagger), a former rock star who lives with female companions Pherber (Anita Pallenberg) and Lucy (Michele Breton). Chas and Turner initially clash, but Turner becomes fascinated with Chas' life as a criminal. Through drugs and a series of psychological battles with Turner, Chas emerges a different man.

Director: Donald Cammell
Screenwriter: Donald Cammell
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Production Co: Goodtimes Enterprises
Rating: R (Nudity|Drug Material|Sexual Content|Some Violence)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 3, 1970, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 20, 2016
Sound Mix: Mono

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