The album's title was a loose variation of the medical diagnosis of Schizophrenia, which usually identifies a dual dissociative identity disorder - the title (Quadrophenia) loosely referring to a foursome dissociative identity disorder (Jimmy's four personalities) - while also a loose reference to quadraphonic (4 channel) sound - a recent invention (which never quite caught on) back then.
In 2009, Pete Townsend revealed that each personality reflected a member of the Who band as follows:
- Roger Daltry - a tough guy - a helpless dancer (in the song, "Helpless Dancer")
- John Erstwhile - a romantic - is it me for a moment? (in the song, "Is it me?")
- Keith Moon - a bloody lunatic, I'll even carry your bags. (in the song, "Bell Boy")
- Pete Townsend - a beggar, a hypocrite, love reign o'er m (in the song, "Love, Reign Over Me.")
In the movie (as in the album) the focus is on the character of Jimmy
(Cooper), a mod - played by Phil Daniels. Though the mods (loosely based on "modernist") started in the 50s, they gained prominence in the 60s. They rode modified Italian motor scooters (Vespas - often decorated with many lights and mirrors), wore Italian suits, tended to indulge in amphetamines(speed), had to be at the right clubs, and dance the right moves. They were the antithesis of the rockers - whom they considered their arch-enemies - since they drove motorcycles, wore leather, and tended not to dance at all. Part of the theme of the movie is the deep mutual antagonism between the mods and the rockers.
Jimmy has a close childhood friend, Kevin, whom he unexpectedly discovers is a rocker. Kevin (played by Ray Winstone) tells him it's all right because we are all people anyway - basically the same. Jimmy explains he doesn't want to be like everyone else, and that is why he is a mod - he wants to be different - this is his identity. Later, after the rockers beat up a mod, the mods set out on revenge - hunt down a rocker and beat him bloody. To Jimmy's horror, he finds out it is his good friend Kevin.
Jimmy goes with his mod friends to Brighton - where many mods gather for the weekend - parading through town shouting - "We are the mods!" Jimmy is delighted. When they encounter rockers, a rumble ensues, shop windows are broken, and riot police rush in. In the midst of the mayhem, Jimmy sneaks off with the girl he has wanted for some time, Steph (played by Leslie Ash - seen above on a scooter with Jimmy just behind him), and they make love. Jimmy is on top of the world. As they return and simply walk down the streets, Jimmy is arrested.
Jimmy appears in a courtroom filled with other mods - the judge irate at them for trashing the town. Jimmy mocks the court in tandem with Ace Face (played by Sting) - the top and coolest of the mods. Jimmy is in his element as he now sees himself closely aligned with Ace Face - making him just as cool.
When Jimmy returns home from the weekend, his mother is angry with him since she heard the news of the mayhem in Brighton on top of finding Jimmy's stash of speed. She throws him out of the house. His boss is angry he took extra time off, and Jimmy reacts angrily and quits. He finds out that Steph has moved on to a new boyfriend - his close friend Dave. Jimmy gets angry at Steph, at Dave, and with all his mod friends - they return his anger by rejecting him. As he drives down the street, he nearly gets killed by a truck which winds up destroying his scooter. Almost everything Jimmy has built his identification upon seems to been taken away.
Jimmy decides to take the train and return to Brighton, hoping to find his identity there again - where he had
been on top of the world. As he walks down the street - much to his horror and dismay - he discovers his hero, Ace Face, works as a lowly bell hop at a swank hotel there. Jimmy - now completely disillusioned and enraged - steals Ace Faces' scooter, and goes for a ride hoping to clear his mind. However, as he drives by the cliff, he contemplates going off them on the scooter and ending what he now views as his miserable life. By listening to the film commentary on the DVD, you discover the original script called for Jimmy to end his life this way.
However, the director finally decided this ending was too bleak - and so Jimmy only drives AceFaces' scooter off the cliff, smashing it to pieces, jumping off at the last minute. But this is difficult to tell when you watch the ending. Others, who watched the film, have told me it was ambiguous (and it was meant to be left that way). The way you know Jimmy lived and walked away from the cliff is at the beginning of the movie - which opens with Jimmy walking away from the cliffs - and then the rest of the film is a flashback of how he got there.
What is left ambiguous is what happens to Jimmy, how he resolves his identity crises, or how he puts life back together if at all - and this appears to be deliberative. The film seems to ask us to examine our identities as well what our lives are about. This aspect of the film is what made it interesting to me, and fits in with many items I have posted in this blog.
Another interesting aspect of the film is the mod revival it inspired. The mod movement had largely died out before the film was made. Though a small revival had already started, the film greatly expanded that revival. There are now many thriving mod subcultures around the world, and apparently many consider this film as a sort of Bible for them.
Jimmy has a close childhood friend, Kevin, whom he unexpectedly discovers is a rocker. Kevin (played by Ray Winstone) tells him it's all right because we are all people anyway - basically the same. Jimmy explains he doesn't want to be like everyone else, and that is why he is a mod - he wants to be different - this is his identity. Later, after the rockers beat up a mod, the mods set out on revenge - hunt down a rocker and beat him bloody. To Jimmy's horror, he finds out it is his good friend Kevin.Jimmy goes with his mod friends to Brighton - where many mods gather for the weekend - parading through town shouting - "We are the mods!" Jimmy is delighted. When they encounter rockers, a rumble ensues, shop windows are broken, and riot police rush in. In the midst of the mayhem, Jimmy sneaks off with the girl he has wanted for some time, Steph (played by Leslie Ash - seen above on a scooter with Jimmy just behind him), and they make love. Jimmy is on top of the world. As they return and simply walk down the streets, Jimmy is arrested.
When Jimmy returns home from the weekend, his mother is angry with him since she heard the news of the mayhem in Brighton on top of finding Jimmy's stash of speed. She throws him out of the house. His boss is angry he took extra time off, and Jimmy reacts angrily and quits. He finds out that Steph has moved on to a new boyfriend - his close friend Dave. Jimmy gets angry at Steph, at Dave, and with all his mod friends - they return his anger by rejecting him. As he drives down the street, he nearly gets killed by a truck which winds up destroying his scooter. Almost everything Jimmy has built his identification upon seems to been taken away.
Jimmy decides to take the train and return to Brighton, hoping to find his identity there again - where he had
What is left ambiguous is what happens to Jimmy, how he resolves his identity crises, or how he puts life back together if at all - and this appears to be deliberative. The film seems to ask us to examine our identities as well what our lives are about. This aspect of the film is what made it interesting to me, and fits in with many items I have posted in this blog.
Another interesting aspect of the film is the mod revival it inspired. The mod movement had largely died out before the film was made. Though a small revival had already started, the film greatly expanded that revival. There are now many thriving mod subcultures around the world, and apparently many consider this film as a sort of Bible for them.
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