366 Days at the Drive-In: Day 230

The Date: May 17

The Movie: Quadrophenia (1979)

What Is It?: Franc Roddam makes one of the few movies based on an album that’s worth a damn. This tale of teen angst and identity trauma amidst clashes between mods and rockers is both relevant to the era it intends to chronicle and the era in which it was made: a flick for mods and punks alike. The music is rather good too.

Why Today?: On this day in 1964, the so-called Battle of Margate between mods and rockers began.

Review: 'Cultographies: Quadrophenia'

Could Quadrophenia be the ultimate cult movie? It’s a cult movie about a cult (the mod subculture of early sixties England) that inspired a cult (the mod subculture of the early eighties). Although Stephen Glynn selected Franc Roddam’s big-screen adaptation of The Who’s 1973 rock opera as the topic of his entry in the Cultographies series, he does not draw any such hasty conclusions. After all, Quadrophenia was a massive, mainstream hit film in Britain (if only with audiences; critics weren’t too thrilled with its violence and underage unrest). Images from the film popped up in advertisements. On U.S. shores it has long been a legitimate cult item, even enjoying screenings on the midnight movie circuit. And despite his declaration that the film is the “most enduring manifestation” of Quadrophenia, this is not really true— at least in America where the film continues to scuttle underground and the album is now regularly regarded as one of The Who’s best, if not the best.

That declaration is one of the few missteps in Cultographies: Quadrophenia, which is a ripping integration of background history (from the actual mod cult, through The Who’s role in it, through their look back on that phase with the Quadrophenia album, through Pete, John, and Roger’s individual roles in the film’s creation) and analysis. Stephen Glynn is the author of The British Pop Music Film, one of my favorite books of last year. He touched on Quadrophenia in that book and gets to expand his study as a part of the “historical” phase of pop films in Cultographies: Quadrophenia. He also looks upon the film—with its punk attitude and seemingly self-conscious anachronisms—as one very much in step with the Britain of 1979. As was the case with The British Pop Music Film, Glynn drops some overly academic speedbumps during the analytical portion but his book is never inaccessible. Cultographies: Quadrophenia is an insightful and multifaceted study of the four faces of one of the very best pop films.

Criterion Announces Late Summer Release for 'Quadrophenia' on DVD and Blu-ray

Followers of the Criterion Collection have surmised this has been in the works for a while, but only yesterday was it made official. On August 28, 2012, Criterion will be issuing Quadrophenia on DVD, and for the first time in the U.S., Blu-ray. Inarguably the greatest film ever based on a Rock album, Quadrophenia brought Jimmy the Mod from the grooves of one of The Who's greatest records to the screen. Devoid of the mushy surrealism of big-screen Rock operas like Tommy and Pink Floyd: The Wall, Quadrophenia is both a bitterly nostalgic look back at the Mods vs. Rockers clashes of the early '60s and a commentary on Britain's social and economic mire of the late '70s. As much a punk movie as a mod one, Quadrophenia is a vital, violent reflection of those vital, violent punk pioneers, The Who.

• Criterion's special edition, approved by director Franc Roddam, includes the following features (from criterion.com)
• New high-definition digital restoration of the uncut version, with the original 2.0 stereo soundtrack as well as an all-new 5.1 surround mix, supervised by the Who and presented in DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition
• New audio commentary featuring director Franc Roddam and director of photography Brian Tufano
• New interview with Bill Curbishley, the film’s coproducer and the Who’s comanager
• New interview with the Who’s sound engineer, Bob Pridden, discussing the new mix, featuring a restoration demonstration
• On-set and archival footage
• Behind-the-scenes photographs
• Trailers
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Nick James, a reprinted personal history by original mod Irish Jack, and Pete Townshend’s liner notes from the album

Pre-order info to follow.

Review: 'Quadrophenia: The Director's Cut' by The Who

Like so many Who projects, Quadrophenia is an album universally regarded as a classic yet with some fairly common reservations. Vocalist Roger Daltrey was the first to balk about how his vocals were buried in the original 1973 mix, and others have griped about the balance in subsequence years. Some critics take issue with a song cycle about the R ‘n’ B and power-pop-obsessed Mod cult that bears no trace of those influences. Rather, Pete Townshend’s songs are epic, synthesizer laden, and more than a little proggy, a very ‘70s hard rock extension of his work on the Lifehouse/Who’s Next project. Still, Quadrophenia is a great album because its musical grandiosity is balanced with some of Townshend's most beautiful compositions: "5:15", "I'm One", "The Punk Meets the Godfather", "Love Reign O'er Me", "The Dirty Jobs", to name a few. All the synths and horn overdubs and rhythmic hubbub (which is incredibly impressive) and bellowing can’t trample the torment, regret, and longing that keeps the songs afloat across four sides of vinyl.

September 14, 2009: 20 Things You May Not Have Known About‘Quadrophenia’

On this day in 1979, Who Films unveiled Quadrophenia, an adaptation of The Who’s 1973 rock opera about a schizoid mod named Jimmy, at the Toronto Film Festival. The film is without question the finest cinematic adaptation of a Rock album (not that it has much competition… Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band? Tommy? Bleccck.) and dramatic Rock & Roll movie ever made. To commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of Quadrophenia, here’s a new feature I call 20 Things You May Not Know About…