Quote:
Performance is a 1970 British crime drama film directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, written by Cammell and starring James Fox and Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, in his film acting debut. The film was produced in 1968 but not released until 1970. Cammell was heavily influenced by the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (a portrait of Borges on a book cover can be seen at a crucial moment in the film).

Performance was initially conceived by Donald Cammell as “The Performers” and was to be a lighthearted swinging 60’s romp. At one stage, Cammell’s friend Marlon Brando (with whom he later collaborated on the posthumously published novel Fan Tan) was to play the gangster role which became “Chas”. At that stage the story involved an American gangster hiding out in London. James Fox, previously cast in rather upper crust roles, eventually took the place of Brando, and spent several months in South London among the criminal underworld researching his role.[1]

As the project evolved the story became significantly darker. Cammell was heavily influenced by the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (a portrait of Borges on a book cover can be seen at a crucial moment in the film) as he redrafted the script to create an intense, intellectual film dealing with issues of identity crisis.[2] Artaud’s theories on the links between performing and madness also influenced Cammell. Cammell and co-director Nicolas Roeg (mainly responsible for the ‘look’ of the film) also benefited from a lack of interference from Warner Bros. studio executives, who believed they were getting a Rolling Stones equivalent of the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night (1964). Instead, Cammell and Roeg delivered a dark, experimental film which included graphic depictions of violence, sex and drug use.

It was intended that the Rolling Stones would write the soundtrack but due to the complicated nature of the various relationships both on and off-screen, this never happened. It was widely rumoured that Anita Pallenberg, then in a relationship with Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger played out sexual scenes in the film ‘for real’ (out-takes of these scenes apparently won a prize at an Amsterdam adult film festival). When Keith Richards heard the rumours, he apparently took to sitting in his car outside the house where the film was being shot. Needless to say, this didn’t do much for the Jagger-Richards musical chemistry and the soundtrack came together from a number of sources.

The film has gained notoriety due to the difficulties it faced in getting on screen. The film’s content was a surprise to the studio. It has been reported that during a test screening, one Warner executive’s wife vomited in shock.[3] James Fox notes in Richard Lester’s TV series British Cinema of the Sixties that a Warner exec said of the scene depicting Jagger in a bath with Pallenberg and Breton, “Even the bath water was dirty.” The response from the studio was to deny the film a cinematic release. It has been claimed that at one stage Warner Bros. wanted the negative to be destroyed.

Performance was finally released in 1970 after several recuts, dubbing of Cockney accents and changes in Warner’s administration. Different edits were shown around the world. Home video versions of the 1990s used the US edit.Performance is a 1970 British crime drama film directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, written by Cammell and starring James Fox and Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, in his film acting debut. The film was produced in 1968 but not released until 1970. Cammell was heavily influenced by the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (a portrait of Borges on a book cover can be seen at a crucial moment in the film).

Performance was initially conceived by Donald Cammell as “The Performers” and was to be a lighthearted swinging 60’s romp. At one stage, Cammell’s friend Marlon Brando (with whom he later collaborated on the posthumously published novel Fan Tan) was to play the gangster role which became “Chas”. At that stage the story involved an American gangster hiding out in London. James Fox, previously cast in rather upper crust roles, eventually took the place of Brando, and spent several months in South London among the criminal underworld researching his role.[1]

As the project evolved the story became significantly darker. Cammell was heavily influenced by the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (a portrait of Borges on a book cover can be seen at a crucial moment in the film) as he redrafted the script to create an intense, intellectual film dealing with issues of identity crisis.[2] Artaud’s theories on the links between performing and madness also influenced Cammell. Cammell and co-director Nicolas Roeg (mainly responsible for the ‘look’ of the film) also benefited from a lack of interference from Warner Bros. studio executives, who believed they were getting a Rolling Stones equivalent of the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night (1964). Instead, Cammell and Roeg delivered a dark, experimental film which included graphic depictions of violence, sex and drug use.

It was intended that the Rolling Stones would write the soundtrack but due to the complicated nature of the various relationships both on and off-screen, this never happened. It was widely rumoured that Anita Pallenberg, then in a relationship with Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger played out sexual scenes in the film ‘for real’ (out-takes of these scenes apparently won a prize at an Amsterdam adult film festival). When Keith Richards heard the rumours, he apparently took to sitting in his car outside the house where the film was being shot. Needless to say, this didn’t do much for the Jagger-Richards musical chemistry and the soundtrack came together from a number of sources.

The film has gained notoriety due to the difficulties it faced in getting on screen. The film’s content was a surprise to the studio. It has been reported that during a test screening, one Warner executive’s wife vomited in shock.[3] James Fox notes in Richard Lester’s TV series British Cinema of the Sixties that a Warner exec said of the scene depicting Jagger in a bath with Pallenberg and Breton, “Even the bath water was dirty.” The response from the studio was to deny the film a cinematic release. It has been claimed that at one stage Warner Bros. wanted the negative to be destroyed.

Performance was finally released in 1970 after several recuts, dubbing of Cockney accents and changes in Warner’s administration. Different edits were shown around the world. Home video versions of the 1990s used the US edit.

Performance.1970.Nicolas.Roeg.Donald.Cammell.576p.BluRay.AAC2.0.x264.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 45 min
Size: 	2.19 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1016x576 
Aspect ratio:  	16:9
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	2 777 kb/s
BPP: 	0.198
Audio
#1:  	English 2.0ch AAC LC @ 167 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/EB3CBBB0B6C0D15/Performance.1970.Nicolas.Roeg.Donald.Cammell.576p.BluRay.AAC2.0.x264.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English, French

The post Donald Cammell & Nicolas Roeg – Performance (1970) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
A bank accountant, whom moonlights as a high-priced call girl, becomes embroiled in the lives of a money launderer, his seductive wife, and his bodyguard whom blackmails her to help the FBI entrap him with his latest money laundering scheme.

IMDB comment says:

Never have a Director’s cut and a released studio version been sodifferent . . .

I watched the Director’s Cut of this movie premiered August ’99, together with clips of the trash that the studio released. The studio movie is trash – completely and utterly and doesn’t even aspire to be anything better. The editing is flat and the performances look like rehearsals. The Director’s Cut (pieced together by the Editor after the Director’s suicide) is an outstanding piece of cinema. Not a frame wasted. The opening sequence shocks you into an awareness that this movie will be very different to anything you’ve seen before. Chris Walken gives one of the best performances of his career. This is exciting, original cinema that riveted my attention in every moment of its two hour authorised version. The script sparkles with wit and dry, unpretentious humour and you never quite know what is going to happen next. A sexy, stylish thriller that makes you laugh and also appreciate the beauty inside every villain. The tenacity and integrity of the Editor and Scriptwriter that saw it through to completion is a monument to the industry.

http://nitroflare.com/view/2A933C1C754DE38/Wild_Side_Directors_Cut.1995.DVDRip.avi

Language(s):English
Subtitles:none

The post Donald Cammell – Wild Side [Director’s Cut] (1995) first appeared on Cinema of the World.