The Filth and the Fury
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| The Filth and the Fury | |
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| Directed by | Julien Temple |
| Produced by | Anita Camarata Amanda Temple |
| Starring | Johnny Rotten Steve Jones Glen Matlock Paul Cook Sid Vicious Malcolm McLaren |
| Music by | Sex Pistols |
| Release date(s) | January 20, 2000 |
| Running time | 108 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Filth and the Fury is a 2000 rockumentary film about the Sex Pistols directed by Julien Temple.
[edit] About the film
The Filth and the Fury is the second movie Julien Temple made about The Sex Pistols. His first effort was The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, which was released at the tail end of punk's first wave in the 1970s. This earlier effort was criticised for being too skewed towards the Pistols' manager Malcolm McLaren's version of events about the band. The Filth and the Fury tells the story from the viewpoint of the bandmembers themselves.
The title of the film is a reference to a headline that appeared in the British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mirror after an interview on ITV's Today presented by Bill Grundy. The Sex Pistols were a last minute replacement for Queen, and the drunken Grundy attempted to goad the band with sarcastic questions, teasing them about their "anti-materialistic lifestyle" and facetiously asking their opinion of classical composers such as Beethoven or Brahms. Rotten let slip the phrases " we fucking spent it" (which went unnoticed)" and "that's their tough shit" and Grundy goaded them further, urging them to "say something outrageous". Grundy also flirted with 19-year-old Siouxsie Sioux, who, with other members of the Bromley Contingent, stood behind the band as atmosphere ("a rent-a-crowd for the Pistols", mused Johnny Rotten years later). Grundy made a remark about meeting her after the show, which provoked Steve Jones to call him a "dirty bastard" and a "fucking rotter" [1], which The Mirror described as "the filthiest language heard on British television". The Today programme was only shown in the London area, but it was broadcast during the traditional "family hour", meaning many families witnessed the show during dinnertime. One truck driver was so enraged that his young son heard the profanity that he kicked in his TV. Thanks to the next day's tabloid press the entire country knew who the Sex Pistols were.
Temple's documentary charts the rise, decline and fall of the Sex Pistols from their humble beginnings in Shepherd's Bush to their disintegration at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Temple puts the band into historical context with Britain's situation in the 1970s through archival footage from the period. This film was seen in some ways as an opportunity for the Pistols to tell their side of the story, mostly through interviews with the surviving members of the group, footage shot during the era, and outtakes from The Great Rock and Roll Swindle.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Filth and the Fury at the Internet Movie Database
- US website
- The Sex Pistols on Film
- Video of Bill Grundy's interview with the Sex Pistols
- Sex Pistols fansite
| Sex Pistols |
|---|
| Johnny Rotten | Steve Jones | Glen Matlock | Paul Cook | Sid Vicious |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: Never Mind the Bollocks, 1977 |
| Singles: Anarchy in the UK, 1976 | God Save the Queen, 1977 | Pretty Vacant, 1977 | Holidays in the Sun, 1977 | No One Is Innocent, 1978 |
| Live and compilation releases: Some Product: Carri on Sex Pistols, 1979 | The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, 1980 | Flogging a Dead Horse, 1980 |
| Related articles |
| Public Image Ltd. | Malcolm McLaren | Jamie Reid | Ronnie Biggs | Edward Tudor-Pole | The Professionals | The Filth and the Fury | Punk rock |
