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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
The Filth and the Fury
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  out of 4
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Starring: Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious Director: Julien Temple
Rated: NR RunTime: 105 Minutes Release Date: January 2000 Genres: Music, Documentary |
| *Also starring: | Steve Jones, Malcolm McLaren |
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 Review by Susan Granger 3½ stars out of 4
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In this documentary, music-video pioneer Julien Temple attempts
to set the record straight about the rise and fall of The Sex Pistols,
the world's most notorious punk-pop band. And obviously it's intended
to augment Temple's earlier documentary, "The Great Rock 'n' Roll
Swindle" (1980), which told how the Pistols were marketed by their
egomaniacal manager, huckster Malcolm McLaren. Unlike their more
famous British predecessors, the Beatles and the Stones, The Sex
Pistols didn't spring from any musical tradition. In fact, they
admittedly didn't know much about music at all, preferring to slam
stuff against their guitars and drums. And it was this obvious assault
that first appealed to frustrated fans in the '70s who also had no
obvious means of expression. England at that time was in the midst of
great social upheaval, suffering from a stagnant economy,
unemployment, and race riots. Against this backdrop of social strife,
the rise of punk anarchy and the impact of the Pistols seems
understandable, even though they recorded only one album: "Never Mind
the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" (1977). Julien Temple reveals
the men behind the infamy, interweaving BBC news briefs, cartoons,
commercials - even an interview with Sid Vicious before he died in
1978. One of the most memorable clips shows Johnny Rotten snarling,
"There is no future in England's dreaming. Don't be told what you
want. Don't be told what you need!" And there's narration by the four
remaining band members: vocalist John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten),
guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook, and bassist Glen Matlock. On
the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "The Filth and the Fury" is an
insightful 8. Filled with ferocious, primal power, it's one of the
best rock & roll documentaries.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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