Sex Pistols - The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
Shout Factory - Shout Factory
Release date: 2005-05-17
DVD
Director:Julien Temple
Actors: Malcolm McLaren, Steve Jones (VI), Paul Cook, Sid Vicious, John Lydon
Arts & Entertainment, Biography, British Punk, Color, Concerts, Documentary, Music, Music Video - Concerts, Performing Arts, Pop, Pop/Rock Music, Punk, Rock, Rock/Pop, Sociology, UK
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Sex Pistols - The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
Date undefinedThis film comes from a subgenre very popular in the underground of the 60s-70s....the freaked out "documentary" of a band usually involving their extremely hands-y manager. A better known film very similar to this one in style and intent is "The Song Remains The Same" by Led Zeppelin, where like this film, the manager takes a prominent role in front of the cameras with their band. Neither are literal documentaries nor are they completely non fiction, but a curious mixture of both. In this case, I wouldn't feel wrong in calling it an "exploitation" flick, in every sense of the word.
Some of the reviewers seemed to think/expect this was a straightforward rockumentary, so some background might clear things up. Malcolm McLaren attempted to follow in the peculiarly UK tradition of The Great Rock Manager with The Sex Pistols. This is where the manager functioned as a "member of the band" rather than merely involved in business matters and became almost as famous as their charges. These sorts of managers were involved with everything from writing songs to living with their bands/members to mixing their recordings to buying their dope and girls/boys. These sorts of managers could be the boon or bane of a rock band and end up with their hands in their pockets pretty much forever. On the positive end, these super hands-on managers could keep their kids' best interests in mind with regards to money, publishing, contracts, etc...and keep them out of all sorts of trouble, Grant and Stigwood/Forrester did an excellent job here. The bad/irresponsible/incompetent/naive/and just super stoned manager could cause them grief that lasts decades (Epstein, Kit Lambert-Chris Stamp, Oldham, etc...). I think McLaren falls in the latter category, but rather intentionally unlike Epstein, Oldham, and Lambert-Stamp. Everything I've ever seen makes me believe McLaren would have put these kids in any situation, no matter how dangerous and just plain stupid, to get attention and make a buck or quid....FOR HIMSELF. In this film, it really shows.
This trend started with and was its most successful with "the Dinosaurs" as the Pistol's generation of punks called them but what we now call "Classic Rockers" and has mostly died out with McLaren being the last of the breed....for better or worse. (The most famous examples past The Beatles/Epstein are: Lambert and Stamp with The Who, Andrew Loog Oldham with The Rolling Stones, Peter Grant with Led Zeppelin, and Robert Stigwood/Roger Forrester with Eric Clapton from Cream in 1966 until the late 90s. There are others, but these are the most famous and/or successful partnerships) This manager-as-5th-Beatle/Pistol thing was a phenomena almost exclusively English, although Andy Warhol tried his hand at the role for 5 minutes with the Velvet Underground.
I watched this knowing this very iffy history of UK bands/managers and kept that in mind, but still found it unsettling. The level of crass exploitation these kids were subject to is painful to watch. It's the most extreme case I know about. This is McLaren and the whole band-manager thing taken to it's most illogical and cynical extreme. It's sad to realize that he's probably still making more money off the Pistol's than any of the living members or dead one's estates for the rest of his life.
If you like freaked out films and/or are a music history buff/Sex Pistols fanatic, buy this knowing some of the background and watch it for what it is.....a rather uncomfortable curiosity piece.
As for the quality of this film, unless some major restoration work is done, its quality isn't going to improve between VHS or DVD. If you still have a VCR and/or are a VHS enthusiast, buy a used copy as a nice little rock curiosity. I bought this on VHS and I wouldn't have wanted to pay more than the $1 or so that I paid, so needless to say I think it's worth the smallest amount possible on either format. In other words, I wouldn't suggest spending the extra $$$ for an imported disc for this title.
Sex Pistols - The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
Date undefinedSimply a bizarre mix of truth and loads of Malcolm BS- this documentary spoof of the Sex pistols is the reigning king of music films. Midgets- Malcolm- great live footage and Monty Python inspired lunacy help tell the tale of the rise and fall of rocks greatest thorn in the side. Sliced with entertaining cartoons of real life pistol happenings and some guerilla styled film making and scenes with a soon to be dead Sid vicious that are no doubt priceless- the fact is they dont make em like this anymore- and that special moment in time is mytholigized to near absurdity. Brilliant fun and a must for all fans of music and late 70s culture!!!!
Sex Pistols - The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
Date undefinedThis is important as John Beverly is dead for many years,watching this recalls memories of these youths in the prime of their rebellion.
In these times this film seems a novelty once more.
Each member of the band plays up to the camera in his own time. I couldn't pick a favorite scene as I like the whole film, but the end with the obituaries of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungeon stand out as a sad memoir that that realize that there was Fragility behind the tough grimaces.
