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Performance

Play trailer Poster for Performance R Released Aug 3, 1970 1h 45m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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82% Tomatometer 34 Reviews 78% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
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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Performance

Performance

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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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Critics Reviews

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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 Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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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 Read all reviews
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Movie Info

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
Producer
Nicolas Roeg, Sanford Lieberson
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
Runtime
1h 45m
Sound Mix
Mono
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