Performance. (1970)

The critic calls Performance the greatest British film ever made for its daring mix of music, art, class, sex, crime and fame. They single out its definitive portrait of late-1960s London and its groundbreaking gangster realism in the first half.

The critic describes Performance as a masterpiece of cinema unlike any other, a fractured experimental work whose every aspect informs its energy. They single out its mind-expanding quality, like the drugs that pervade it, and praise the technical excellence brought by co-director Nic Roeg.

The critic views the film as a perfect encapsulation of Swinging London's counterculture that also signals its demise, praising its status as one of the greatest British gangster films and its mind-bending exploration of identity, performance, and existential themes through jarring edits and psychedelic sequences.

The critic describes the film as a rewarding exchange-of-personality piece that improves on repeated viewings. They single out its enduring cinematic sensibilities and unmatchably astonishing moments amid the era's sexual decadence and psychedelia.

Performance is a violent movie with literal and social-psychological violence in its two main characters, featuring inspired acting especially by Jagger and Fox, and Roeg's ravishing camera work that creates a hypnotic texture. One emerges feeling scorched but convinced of having spent time in the presence of something extraordinary.

The critic calls Performance one of the weirdest slices of Seventies London around, combining gangster violence and ritual humiliation with decaying rock-star glamour. They single out Mick Jagger as electrifying in the role of the reclusive rock star Turner.

The film is a virtuoso juggling act that manipulates visual and verbal imagery to blur reality and fantasy. The first half is a straight thriller about a gangster on the run who then becomes entangled with a fading rock star in a drug-fueled exploration of power, identity and performance.

The film is a bizarre, disconnected attempt to link pop stars and gangsters that isn't altogether successful but has frantic energy. The surprise is Mick Jagger's performance, which comments on his life and style in a complex psychological way.

The critic views the film as a legendary, boundary-challenging work born from undiluted vision that blends high art, violence and sexuality. She singles out its innovative cut-up editing, sensual cinematography and groundbreaking depictions of drugs and sex for praise while noting its enduring rarity and difficulty for mainstream audiences.

The review describes Performance as an experimental, disjointed and hallucinatory psychedelic psychodrama that remains jarring and sometimes unintentionally funny by today’s standards. It highlights the film’s themes of identity, its shocking content for a major studio release and the legendary on-set stories.