When Mick Jagger agreed to appear in Performance in his second-ever movie role, Warner Bros thought they were getting The Rolling Stones version of Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night starring The Beatles. What they ultimately got shocked them so much that the wife of one of the studio executives vomited during a test screening. Performance follows London gangster Chas (played by James Fox) who is on the run from his former squad after having killed a friend. He takes refuge in a room rented to him by former rock star Turner (Mick Jagger), until the latter can find a way for the former to get out of the country. Alongside Turner, the other residents of the house include Pherber (Anita Pallenberg) and Lucy (Michele Breton), with their favorite pastime being drugs and sex. Slowly but surely, Chas starts to engage in their little rituals, so much so that his identity begins dissolving, while the line that separates him from Turner grows weaker by the minute.
Directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, who also served as screenwriter (Cammell) and cinematographer (Roeg), Performance is considered one of the most influential British films ever, appearing on almost every list of the best British movies of all time. The role of Turner is considered Mick Jagger's best performance, if you pardon the pun.
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