Director(s): Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell
Screenplay: Donald Cammell
Starring: James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg and Michèle Breton
Country: United Kingdom
Running Time: 106 min
Year: 1970
Where does one even begin with Performance? My first viewing was years back, as part of a series of blind buys in HMV’s Premium Collection, a UK offshoot of the US Warner Archive Collection before expanding to other labels. I was utterly perplexed on my first watch, going in knowing very little and coming out of it in awe and bewilderment at the film I had watched. Before I describe my feelings on the film now, let’s give some context to Performance.
It’s the late 60s, The Beatles have released A Hard Day’s Night and when aspiring filmmakers Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell end up proposing a film starring The Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger to Warner Bros. WB imagine it’ll be exactly like A Hard Day’s Night so they let the pair do their own thing, without any studio interference whatsoever. What do they get? One of the most transgressive, experimental and to them, unreleasable motion pictures ever.
The film was shelved for years, due to the graphic content in the film (for the time, it can be extremely shocking) and how unorthodox almost every single aspect of the film is. From its bizarre score, to the lack of Mick Jagger in the opening stretch of the film, the unconventional editing, all of which would become trademarks for Roeg and Cammell in their solo efforts. It’s a lot, and Warner was having none of it.
It’s hard to explain my thoughts on Performance because it’s so out there, so unbelievably strange and weird in every traditional sense that it’s something that’s hard to sell to anybody. It follows James Fox’s Chas, a London gangster who finds himself embroiled in a violent situation and ends up laying low in Notting Hill Gate with Mick Jagger’s Turner, Anita Pallenberg’s Pherber and Michèle Breton’s Lucy. When the film starts, narratively, it follows the typical beats of a gangster flick that you’d expect, albeit with the unconventional filmmaking of Roeg and Cammell. However, as soon as Chas is in the company of Jagger and co., everything turns into a fever dream of sorts.
It’s a controversial film for a multitude of reasons, the aforementioned content (there’s tons of violence, sexual content and nudity for those unaware) and primarily how abstract the structure of the film is. Even on a rewatch, I found myself struggling a little to understand some of the editing decisions in the film and that could completely boil down to me simply not understanding Roeg or Cammell’s intentions, but it’s undeniable that Performance is one of the most original works of cinema ever made. Trust me, you’ve never seen anything quite like this.
Performance is a weird one to recommend, or suggest, but anybody interested in Roeg, Cammell or influential British film should seek this one out. This Criterion release even brings the original UK audio track back, which has been relatively hard to access due to the US dub being the main source for most releases in the past, which is great for film preservation purposes. Still, I think it’s something that’s going to be an acquired taste, without a doubt. Part of the film left me scratching my head, while other parts had me entranced into the almost hypnotic state of what I was experiencing. It’s an undeniably gorgeous picture too, being shot by Roeg himself (prior to directing, Roeg was a noted cinematographer) and as previously mentioned, the bizarre score by Jack Nitzsche is something that’s wholly original, in line with the film.
Will you like Performance? Maybe. Will you hate Performance? Also, maybe. I can only suggest that those interested by how batshit crazy this sounds give it a chance, but if it sounds like it’ll be too much for you, that very well could be the case. When it comes to liking the film, I think I do. I easily admire it more than I enjoy it, purely for how groundbreakingly original it is, But again, there’s elements of the abstract nature that I struggled with, even on a second viewing. There’s nothing else quite like this one, I can tell you that much. So, I recommend it… I think?
Film: 
Performance released on 4K UHD and Blu-ray March 3rd via The Criterion Collection. The film’s previously been issued on Blu-ray by Warner Archive in the States and through HMV’s Premium Collection here. This is the film’s UHD debut, and is sourced from a brand new 4K restoration with Dolby Vision HDR and the original UK soundtrack. The new restoration looks stunning and improves on the old Blu-ray in virtually every way. The image quality is outstanding, the colours pop better than ever thanks to the DV implementation and being able to watch the film with the original UK soundtrack is a huge plus too. As typical from Criterion, it’s a brilliant A/V experience. The following extras are included:
4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural original-UK-version soundtrack
One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
Donald Cammell: The Ultimate Performance (1998), a documentary by Kevin Macdonald and Chris Rodley
Influence and Controversy: Making “Performance” (2007)
New visual essay about David Litvinoff, the film’s dialogue coach and technical adviser
Interviews with the actors
Program on the overdubbing done for the U.S. version of the film
Memo from Turner, featuring on-set footage
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by film critic Ryan Gilbey and a 1995 article by scholar Peter Wollen
New cover by Fred Davis
Donald Cammell: The Ultimate Performance is a 1998 documentary by Kevin Macdonald and Chris Rodley, highlighting the career of one of Performance’s directors. It runs for 70 minutes and features interviews with Kenneth Anger, Mick Jagger, Nicolas Roeg, James Fox and many others as they describe Cammell’s history, his work and his tragic passing. It’s a solid documentary that’s worth watching if you’re interested in learning about Cammell.
35 minutes of interviews with the actors are included, sourced from unused footage of the Donald Cammell documentary mentioned above.
Influence and Controversy: Making Performance is a 25 minute archival documentary from 2007, which has been included on almost every home media release for Performance. It features individuals associated with the film, such as its stars, editor and producer as they describe the production, Warner’s meddling and more. It’s a solid piece and I’m glad it was ported over.
The True Story of David Litvinoff is a brand new 20 minute video essay, highlighting Performance’s dialogue coach and technical adviser, David Litvinoff. Narrated by Keiron Pim, the piece highlights the fascinating life of Litvinoff and how he helped shape some of the performances in the film.
The Two Cockneys of Harry Flowers is a 5 minute piece highlighting the differences between the dubbed US version of the film and the original UK cut. It’s an interesting comparison piece that’s worth a watch.
Memo from Turner is an archival promo piece for the film, making Mick Jagger’s role in the film out to be a lot larger than it actually is, highlighting the musical number too. It runs for 5 minutes and it’s… interesting.
A trailer is included.
I wasn’t provided with the essay, unfortunately.
Criterion’s UHD release of Performance is, as expected, great. The label is on a roll lately with stellar release after stellar release, and this one is no exception. The film itself will divide viewers, but I think most film fans will find it interesting to say the least. The bonus features are solid and compliment the film well, the transfer and audio sound great, if this one interests you, it’s a no-brainer. Recommended.
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