Quadrophenia Review

Quadrophenia Review

Whilst we were in London on our BFI trip, we watched two different clips from the film Quadrophenia. This film was released in 1979 and was about two different groups of individuals who embraced different media cultures. These cultures were known as the mods and the rockers. The film illustrates how the different media cultures conflicted with one another in the late 1970s. It also shows how there is a form of similarity between the two as the main character Jimmy (played by Phil Daniels) is a member of the mod culture and one of his best friends, Kevin (played by Ray Winstone) has adopted the style of a rocker. There is a seperation between the two cultures due to how the media at that time had certain diversity and that if you liked one type of media, you would be classed as a mod and vice versa.

The main clip we looked at was the scene were the mods ambush the rockers by the seaside in a small cafe type of shop. The scene is full of quick, different camera shots all from a relatively level angle to those who are in the fight. This gives the audience the feeling of actually being in the fight and this therefore makes them interested as to what is happening in this scene. Also when the police are trying to push the mods back, there is a slight tilt to make the mods look higher up in the form of a low angle shot. This contrasts with the stereotype that the police are always in control as it makes the mods seem as though they have more power and authority over them. This is then reversed when the police bring in more reinforcements such as horses and vehicles as the mods and rockers soon begin to part and run off before the police can actually catch them. This gives the audience a sense of variety within the film and this makes the film more unpredictable and interesting to watch.