Special guests for Quadrophenia screening
Special guests set for Quadrophenia screening
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Friday, 16, Jan 2009 12:13
Film director Franc Roddam will be attending a screening of his cult movie Quadrophenia this weekend in London.
The film will be screened at the National Film Theatre on the South Bank at 5pm on Saturday.
Director Roddam will be joined by broadcaster and writer Robert Elms, a big fan of the movie, and actor Phil Davis who stars in the film alongside Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Sting and Toyah Wilcox.
The screening is to be followed by a Q&A session with the director.
Quadrophenia was originally released in 1979 and depicts the clashes between two youth tribes of 60s Britain, the Mods and the Rockers.
The movie focuses on a group of teenage friends as they become embroiled in a world of scooters, drugs and seaside clashes between the Mods and Rockers.
The film was inspired by the music of the Who and director Roddam is a long-time fan of the seminal Britrock band, as he said on BBC Radio London's Robert Elms show: "I saw the Who live in Liverpool. I love the Who!"
Prior to making Quadrophenia, Roddam had made a drama for the BBC called Dummy which drew flak from Mary Whitehouse, however it got the director noticed by the UK film establishment.
And prominent producer David Putnam recommended Roddam as the director for Quadrophenia.
Directing the film allowed Roddam to draw on his own teenage experiences, he was 18 in 1964, the year the movie's set.
Speaking on the Robert Elms show, he said: "We made the film in 1978 and we were depicting 1964. I was 18 in 64, it was a different world."
The fashions of that year play a prominent role in the film and arguably led to a Mod revival at the end of the 70s and into the 80s.
Roddam said: "It was interesting to do a film about style and substance. The substance came from being young and the style's about the clothes and bikes. We didn't get it exactly right but more so than less."
Quadrophenia's cast features a bumper crop of now well-known names such as Sting and Phil Daniels, however, when the movie was being made these actors were just starting on their respective careers.
The director said of the then-young cast: "I come from a school of directors who like to improvise.
"And I had a very good casting director in Patsy Pollock who concocted my main gang of about 15 guys and girls.
"I come from the Method school also; I completely immersed them in the world of the Mods - scooters, talking to old Mods, guys who took speed.
"I made our guys and girls create the back-stories for their characters, what they were doing before and what happened to them afterwards.
"Our young actors - Phil Daniels, Ray Winstone - really gave themselves to the film."
Having been a teenager in 1964 enabled Roddam to infuse various scenes with a personal note.
One such moment was the gatecrashing of a party which was something the director had been doing himself back in 1964.
Although he was able to film the scene with a sense of objectivity, one of the benefits that age and experience has over youthful exuberance.
Rock star Sting was another member of the Quadrophenia cast and Roddam told Robert Elms: "Sting was a deliberate choice. For the choice of Ace Face, I shifted him into an uber-Mod. It was mostly a silent role."
Roddam also praised other members of his cast. Of Toyah Wilcox, former punk star turned successful actor, he said: "Toyah is a fantastic little actress.
"There's moments of emotions that she portrays that are amazing."
Roddam has moved into the field of publishing while still developing TV and film projects.
His Ziji Publishing company puts out work by first-time authors in a variety of genres.
Roddam is also the creator of numerous TV shows including the Family, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Masterchef.
The latter is particularly close to Roddam's heart as it provides the funding for his film projects.
He said: "Masterchef has been like an uncle to me, it pays for all my scripts. I call it Uncle Masterchef."
In terms of the future the director has various dream projects, one being a film called My Monster.
He told Robert Elms: "I'm trying to make My Monster and Colin Farrell would be ideal for it."
Lee Davis