Donald Cammell’s films involve the blending of sexual
identity and his debut film certainly underlined that fact. It was Cammell’s
fascination with the power of Mick Jagger over an audience and the power
exerted by London’s gangster community that lead to the making of Performance
(1968). The original story was about an
American gangster stranded at London Airport who meets a fellow American at one
of the airports fast food outlets and develops a relationship. But it
eventually transformed into a chilling nightmarish portrait of the dark
decadent side of the sixties involving LSD and gender bending.
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| Chas and Turner. |
What we have got to remember is that Warner Brothers only
agreed to finance the movie because they saw is as a vehicle for the Mick
Jagger whose band The Rolling Stones was riding high in the music charts at
this time, although they were classed as ‘dangerous’, intriguing the young but
scaring their parents. When the film was premiered at Warner’s offices there
was a tremendous uproar when they realised that Jagger was not even in the film
until half way through and the subject matter was a little avant-garde for
their conservative sensitivities. Therefore Cammell, and he alone, was
responsible for a complete re-edit in Los Angles that delayed the release of
the film for almost two years until 1970. If you watch the films trailer I
think you will agree that it does push Jagger to the forefront of the story,
which is really not the case with the actually film. But what transpired from
the more intense editing is a more interesting film. The movie does however
show quite clearly Donald Cammell’s on screen love affair with the rock star.
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| Menage a trois. |
When the film opens we see a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce
traversing the quite country lanes of England but this tranquil landscape is
juxtaposed with an explicit sex scene, which could or could not be in the back
of the car? This is an intention that is continued through out the film, can we
believe what we are seeing on the screen - is it actually happening? The
narrative is split into two half’s, the first ‘the gangster segment’ follows
the script until we move to 81 Powis Square, Notting Hill Gate where the second
half ‘the psychedelic segment’ allegedly deviates quite a lot from Cammell’s original
script. In the first section we meet Chas Devlin (James Fox) who is a
‘performer’ carrying out Harry Flowers (Johnny Shannon in his first acting role
after being taken on originally by Cammell as a voice coach for Fox) violent
dirty work involving intimidation and the collection of debts. When Flowers
decides to take over Joey Maddocks (Anthony Valentine) betting shop Chas is
excluded from the operation because Harry says that he has a personnel history
with the man going back some years. But Chas takes umbrage and disrespects
Maddocks who in turn wrecks Devlin’s flat. Devlin’s response is to shot and
kill Joey Maddocks and go on the run! Over hearing a conversation he applies
for a vacant room in the basement of the aforementioned Powis Square and hide
away until he can get out of the country. Its there he meets Turner (a feminine
Jagger at his satanic magisterial best in his debut feature film role) a
reclusive rock superstar and the two women who share drugs and sex with him,
the beautiful androgynous Lucy (French actress Michele Breton) and ultra sexy
Pherber (Anita Pallenberg). Chas, or as he now calls himself, Johnny Dean
gradually becomes closer to Turner and with the help of some amanita muscaria
(magic mushrooms to you) he rediscovers himself and enjoys a bi-sexual
relationship: or does he or are the two main characters merging?
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| Pherber and Lucy. |
It was a case of life imitating art with drugs being used
during the filming! It even coursed a
riff between Jagger and Keith Richards over Keith’s girlfriend at the time the
Italian born Pallenberg who plays out some explicate sex scenes in the movie
with Jagger. James Fox role in the film as a psychopathic villain, which is
allegedly based on a gangster by the name of Jimmy Evans a notorious underworld
figure, affected him personally as this was a difficult and different role and
he was unable to get it out off his system for a long time. Donald Cammell
himself did not make another film for five years.
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| The director with Pallenberg. |
It was Cammell who originally asked Nicolas Roeg to be his
cameraman but he refused and eventually become co-director although he is still
credited with the cinematography. It was said to be the first British movie
that demonstrated the world of casual drugs and sex, mixed with filmmaking
influences from Europe. The original music was by Jack Nitzsche and included
musicians like Ry Cooder and Lowell George. The soundtrack was released as an
album by WB and a single from the album Memo
from Turner by Mick Jagger, said to be the first music video, reached
number 32 in the UK singles chart.
Albeit that the viewer must decide the meaning of the
ending, which is by no means clear, this is a timeless film classic that reflects
the madness and fantasy that was the Armageddon in Cammell’s mind at the end of
the cult ridden 1960’s. Strangely it brings to mind the Jim Jarmusch film Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
proving Cammell’s footprint is still influencing filmmakers today.
"Performance was
not only the greatest seventies film about identity, if any movie in the whole Story of Film should be
compulsory viewing for film makers, maybe this is it.[1]"
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| Chas Devlin say's its the end!! |
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