Performance

Mick Jagger made his feature film acting debut in this mash-up of London gangster machismo and '60s sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll culture, playing Turner, a reclusive rock star living in a dilapidated manor home in a London slum. But it's James Fox who powers the movie as Chas, a vicious young killer hiding out from his own gang (after murdering another gunman) who rents a room in Turner's basement. Filmed in 1968 but released in 1970, Performance marks the directorial debut of both cinematographer Nicolas Roeg and artist-writer Donald Cammell (they co-direct), who spin a dense web of images and ideas as Turner and his lover, Pherber (Anita Pallenberg), draw Chas into their insular world. Jagger is oddly passive when reading lines from the script, but he dominates in the “Memo From Turner” number, a demonic solo tune backed by Ry Cooder's sultry slide guitar. Performance is perhaps the first major studio production to non-judgmentally embrace androgyny and bisexuality in its main characters, lending this portrait of London thuggery a homoerotic quality. The vivid imagery, dramatic and inventive editing, and upending of macho clichés—as well as the appearance by Jagger and fascinating performance by Fox—have deservedly made this a cult film. New to Blu-ray, extras include a 2007 retrospective featurette and a vintage promo short. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)