Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    Banner
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
      • Playlists
    • Television
      • Shows by Decade
        • 1950s Television
        • 1960s Television
        • 1970s Television
        • 1980s Television
        • 1990s Television
      • Shows by Genre
        • Comedy
        • Drama
        • Kids TV
        • Variety
        • News & Sport
        • Advertisements
      • Shows by Country
        • UK TV
        • USA TV
        • Australia & NZ TV
        • Canada TV
        • Europe TV
        • Japan TV
      • Shows A to K
        • Shows A
        • Shows B
        • Shows C
        • Shows D
        • Shows E
        • Shows F
        • Shows G
        • Shows H
        • Shows I
        • Shows J
        • Shows K
      • Shows L to Z
        • Shows L
        • Shows M
        • Shows N
        • Shows O
        • Shows P
        • Shows Q
        • Shows R
        • Shows S
        • Shows T
        • Shows U
        • Shows V
        • Shows W
        • Shows X
        • Shows Y
        • Shows Z
      • Shows 0 to 9
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • 1950s Music
        • 1960s Music
        • 1970s Music
        • 1980s Music
        • 1990s Music
      • Music A to K
        • Music A
        • Music B
        • Music C
        • Music D
        • Music E
        • Music F
        • Music G
        • Music H
        • Music I
        • Music J
        • Music K
      • Music L to Z
        • Music L
        • Music M
        • Music N
        • Music O
        • Music P
        • Music Q
        • Music R
        • Music S
        • Music T
        • Music U
        • Music V
        • Music W
        • Music X
        • Music Y
        • Music Z
      • Music 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • 1950s Movies
          • Movies 1950
          • Movies 1951
          • Movies 1952
          • Movies 1953
          • Movies 1954
          • Movies 1955
          • Movies 1956
          • Movies 1957
          • Movies 1958
          • Movies 1959
        • 1960s Movies
          • Movies 1960
          • Movies 1961
          • Movies 1962
          • Movies 1963
          • Movies 1964
          • Movies 1965
          • Movies 1966
          • Movies 1967
          • Movies 1968
          • Movies 1969
        • 1970s Movies
          • Movies 1970
          • Movies 1971
          • Movies 1972
          • Movies 1973
          • Movies 1974
          • Movies 1975
          • Movies 1976
          • Movies 1977
          • Movies 1978
          • Movies 1979
        • 1980s Movies
          • Movies 1980
          • Movies 1981
          • Movies 1982
          • Movies 1983
          • Movies 1984
          • Movies 1985
          • Movies 1986
          • Movies 1987
          • Movies 1988
          • Movies 1989
        • 1990s Movies
          • Movies 1990
          • Movies 1991
          • Movies 1992
          • Movies 1993
          • Movies 1994
          • Movies 1995
          • Movies 1996
          • Movies 1997
          • Movies 1998
          • Movies 1999
      • Movies A to K
        • Movies A
        • Movies B
        • Movies C
        • Movies D
        • Movies E
        • Movies F
        • Movies G
        • Movies H
        • Movies I
        • Movies J
        • Movies K
      • Movies L to Z
        • Movies L
        • Movies M
        • Movies N
        • Movies O
        • Movies P
        • Movies Q
        • Movies R
        • Movies S
        • Movies T
        • Movies U
        • Movies V
        • Movies W
        • Movies X
        • Movies Y
        • Movies Z
      • Movies 0 to 9
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Radio
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»1970s Movies»Movies 1970
    Movies 1970 Movies P 2 Mins Read

    Performance (1970)

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Chas (James Fox) is a psychotic East London gangster who murders his childhood friend and rival Joey in a scene all the more intense for the homoerotic gun-and-whip play that precedes the actual shooting.

    Chas goes on the run – not from the law but from his own former gangster allies, a mob headed up by “respectable” London “businessman” Harry Flowers – and hides out in a Notting Hill house with Turner – a decadent and reclusive rock star portrayed, in a real acting stretch, by Mick Jagger.

    The two personalities begin to merge, the macho gangster experimenting with drugs and perversity and the singer discovering violence and cruelty.

    Turner’s consort is the fabulous Pherber, played by the gorgeous Anita Pallenberg. Pherber embodies the darkened mood of life after Flower Power when rock’s new aristo’s dabbled with the devil.

    Pherber and Turner suck Chas into their occult shadow-world, feeding him magic mushrooms and messing with his brutish geezer mind within the walls of 81 Powis Square.

    Aleister Crowley and Kenneth Anger intersect in the hallucinogenic claustrophobia of the house, and the film has a perverse, creepy fascination; even when it’s being quite vile.

    Loaded with every arty trick that the two first-time directors could think of, it was originally released with an X rating, although were it to be released nowadays it would probably have to be spiced up to even be given an R rating.

    Brutal beatings, sexual identity crises and prodigious drug-taking is punctuated by one of Jack Nitzsche’s best scores (highlighted by Ry Cooder’s incredible bottleneck guitar work).

    The brief heyday of British psychedelia was soon to be over, and Performance is its most authentic document and its finest product – Perhaps the wildest, most deeply layered psychedelic movie ever made.

    Established character actors Stanley Meadows, Allan Cuthbertson, Anthony Morton and Johnny Shannon, and the fast-rising Anthony Valentine were all recruited for the film, and so was John Bindon, a real-life gangster turned actor who was something of a society darling during the mid-Sixties despite – or, perhaps, because of – his criminal past.

    Anita Pallenberg’s rumoured off-camera seduction of Jagger upset her then-boyfriend, Mick’s fellow Rolling Stone Brian Jones – who was apparently sunk by the news.

    Chas
    James Fox
    Turner
    Mick Jagger
    Pherber
    Anita Pallenberg
    Lucy
    Michele Breton

    Director
    Nicolas Roeg
    Donald Cammell

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Reckoning, The (1970)
      Reckoning, The (1970)
      "If I can get away with that, I can get away with anything" Michael "Mick" Marler (Nicol Williamson) is a…
    • Trash (1970)
      Trash (1970)
      This was arguably the first product from the Andy Warhol studio to resemble a mainstream film. It has a conventional narrative,…
    • Whirlpool (1970)
      Whirlpool (1970)
      Swinging London fashion model, Tulia (Vivian Neves), is lured to an isolated country estate by a creepy older woman called…
    • Price of Fear, The (1956)
      Price of Fear, The (1956)
      Wealthy Investment Counselor Jessica Warren (Merle Oberon) is involved in a hit-and-run car accident and eventually stops to call the…
    • Captain Milkshake (1970)
      Captain Milkshake (1970)
      Director Richard Crawford generated this profoundly-felt protest film about a young Marine called Paul (Geoff Gage) on emergency leave from…
    • Pool of London (1951)
      Pool of London (1951)
      Into the Pool of London on the River Thames sails the Dunbar, a cargo ship out of Rotterdam, and the…
    • End Of The Road (1970)
      End Of The Road (1970)
      It's possible that a trillion years from now, a visiting alien will open a time capsule and alight upon a…
    • Psychopath, The (1966)
      Psychopath, The (1966)
      A series of strange murders have been taking place in London. The murders are of men who play in a…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticlePenthouse, The (1967)
    Next Article Peter Pan (1953)

    Comments are closed.

    NC Radio Player
    Search the site

    Nostalgia Central has been a labour of love since 1998. The site carries no advertising, and I rely on donations to help with running costs and to keep the site running for your entertainment and education.

    If you find the site informative or enjoyable, please consider a donation – no matter how small. 

    Thank you so much.
    Enjoy your trip in the time machine!

    You may also like

    • Ned Kelly (1970)
      Ned Kelly (1970)
      One of the unfortunate temptations of hiring a rock star to carry a film is for the director to rely…
    • Goodbye Gemini (1970)
      Goodbye Gemini (1970)
      Incestuous twins Jacki (Judy Geeson) and Julian (Martin Potter) fall into the Swinging London scene during a break from university.…
    • Pure Shit (1975)
      Pure Shit (1975)
      This 1975 Australian film follows 48 hours in the life of heroin users (two girls and two guys) in Melbourne…
    • Prizzi's Honor (1985)
      Prizzi's Honor (1985)
      Jack Nicholson enjoys himself enormously as Charley Partanna, a hitman for the powerful Prizzi family, a leading New York Mafia…


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Copyright © 1998, 2023 Nostalgia Central. Run by volunteers. Funded by donations.
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.