Performance

Nicolas Roeg's first film as a director, after many years as a cinematographer, was Performance, co-directed by Donald Cammell, who wrote the script. Roeg also operated the camera. Released in 1970, it's something of a landmark film, although I think it's a bit dated and just a bit incoherent.

Performance is about the collision of two worlds in London, that of a gangster and the louche world of rock and roll. James Fox plays an enforcer for a local mob boss, but he defies orders and kills someone he wasn't supposed to. On the lam, he ends up renting a basement room in the townhouse of Turner, played by Mick Jagger. Turner is a retired rock star who appears to enjoy just hanging around with two women, Anita Pallenberg and Michele Breton, in a bisexual menage a trois.

The first half of the film is all crime, as Fox is established as being a very tough cookie. Therefore, at about halfway through, when Jagger is introduced, the lines are sharply drawn. Pallenberg rents the room to Fox, but Jagger wants him out, and tries to give him his money back. Eventually the two men become fascinated with each other. Fox initially says he is also a performer, a juggler (probably one of the worst things to try to bluff--what if someone asks to see you juggle?) but eventually Jagger knows who he is.

Fox, initially all testosterone, is seduced into Jagger's world. He is fed psychedelic mushrooms, and ends up in feminine attire, with a wig and eye makeup. When the mob finally finds him, Jagger, in some kind of dream sequence, sings a song with very Dylan-esque lyrics (Jagger wrote the song himself), but can not save Fox from his fate.

As usual with Roeg, there is a lot of cross-cutting, sometimes a frame or two of what we've seen before to subliminally remind us emotions or even just who is who. Though the film is full of color, it's a muddy palette, with red being dominant, mostly blood.

Pallenberg was an inamorata of two of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones and Keith Richards, but not Mick Jagger. Fox was a revelation to me, as most of his roles are upper-crust Brits, such as Mr. Salt in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. To see him with an East London accent and speaking mostly with his fists was quite odd.

Performance is on the list of the best British films of all time, as voted by critics, but I'm afraid that says more about British film than it does Performance. I can't say it is entertaining, but it is interesting, and no doubt was very influential with certain directors. I will say that Jagger, like David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth, is perfectly cast, even if he had no acting experience. Rock stars are performers, and with the right director can be utilized in fascinating ways. Also, in a scene with Jagger, Pallenberg, and Breton all naked together in a tub, I believe it is Jagger who is the most beautiful. That skin! Those lips!