The 1979 youth subculture classic, directed by Frank Roddam, takes characters from the concept album by rock band The Who. A top soundtrack naturally accompanies the action.
Central character Jimmy Cooper (Phil Daniels), is a teen with troubles. His parents don't understand him. He has a dead end job in an advertising agency, which he hates. The girl he loves doesn't feel the same way about him. Life is far from sweet.
Jimmy's only outlet for his teenage angst is with his mod pals Dave (Mark Wingett), Chalky (Philip Davis) and Spider (Gary Shail). Being a mod gives Jimmy a sense of purpose.
"I don't want to be like everybody else, that's why I'm a mod, see?," he says.
When the mods descend upon the seaside town of Brighton at the same time as the rockers, violence ensues. A riot breaks out. During the battle Jimmy and Steph (Leslie Ash) duck into an alley and start having sex against a brick wall. Later, Jimmy is arrested along with Ace (Sting), a mod gang leader who has impressed Jimmy.
Jimmy returns to London, only to discover his mother has found his drugs and throws him out of the house. He walks out of his job after being disciplined for arriving late for work, and after discovering Steph has taken up with his best friend decides to head back to Brighton.
He sees Ace' s scooter outside a hotel and his spirits are momentarily lifted, until he discovers that Ace is nothing more than a hotel bellboy. Jimmy steals Ace's scooter and rides it out to the cliffs. The Who's Love Reign O'er Me plays in the background as he rides his scooter along a cliff top, before driving straight towards the edge at top speed. Will he end it all? Or will he pull through?
Quadrophenia is a sharp. well paced tale about the pains of growing up which includes some top performances from a superb cast.
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