Sex Pistols: Great Rock and Roll Swindle:DVD
Shout Factory
Review by Greg Kessler
It has finally happened; the worst and greatest rock and roll film of all time has been released on DVD. In their infinite wisdom the nice folks at SHOUT FACTORY have released the seminal Sex Pistols fabulous abomination, The Great Rock and Roll Swindle. The Swindle was produced after the fall of Johnny Rotton, while the Pistols were searching for a new singer and hanging out with Ronnie Biggs of the Great Train Robbery fame. When I was in high school it was the Holy Grail of video rentals and could only be found at one music store in St. Louis, Euclid Records (although this new version does not have the plethora of penis’ blurred out, this would be my only complaint about the new DVD).
The whole thing kicks off with a bondage mask, half-naked dwarf and the origin of the band set against the French Revolution. There is also brilliant footage of the audition the Pistols held for a new singer (resulting in the discovery of Tenpole Tudor who had some minor hits on Stiff Records and acting parts as a hotel clerk in Sid and Nancy, although his part as Mr. Borgin was cut from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets).
The original film was scripted by Roger Ebert (yes that Roger Ebert) and supposed to be directed by the legendary Russ Meyer. That line up only lasted for a few weeks and the whole thing revamped by Julien Temple (who also directed the follow-up The Filth and the Fury in 2000, but it was not near as good as the Swindle). The move is a mix of ill conceived bits of bad acting, lectures by eternal dim wit Malcolm McLaren on his PLAN for the Pistols. These bits are silly but fun as hell to watch, at least as good as anything you see bone head musicians do on MTV or VH1 every day. The real gold in this film is the music. The purported plot of the movie is a combination of Steve Jones as a detective trying to track the money the band had made and Malcolm has absconded with, and lessons from Malcolm on how to create your own fake band. Not that there is much plot, but there you have it.
There are a few performance bastardizing the pistols own music and even those are worth your time. A French accordion version of “Anarchie Pour Le U.K” and an inspiring disco medley of Pistols songs done by the Black Arabs are both worth the price of the DVD. Two old piano and voice teachers performing a selection of Submission stacks up with more than a few covers I have heard of the sing in St. Louis bars.
Amazingly enough Even McLaren’s songs are even good, and sometimes better than good. He would, of course, go on to release some really disturbingly good LPs of his own after the Pistols finally died (not long after this film). You Need Hands is performed while walking through what looks like a Victorian sewer and was really one of the highlights of the film.
Maybe one of the most surprising elements of the movie is all of the animation. The near riot at A&M Records, Rotten and Paul Cook being attacked and beaten by patriotic thugs and football hooligans are both animated. The best bit of animation is probably the only punk rock pirate song ever recorded. Friggin in the Riggin is a Steve Jones Epistle and shows off what potential he had as a front man. That potential was of course destroyed when he backed up Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor on his abominable solo work in the late 1980’s. Friggin plays over the credits and is replete with naughty little bits.
In the end probably the most famous bit in the movie is Sid’s performance of My Way in front of a fake Moulin Rouge set (which apparently he refused to do for more than a month). At the end of the Song Sid shoots up the audience and in a prophetic act, kills his worst enemy Nancy Spungeon.
The DVD also includes a great unsentimental commentary track by the director. Temple was around for the whole thing and seems able to separate the myth from what a mess they really became, he does get a tad gushy sometimes, but not so much as to make it annoying.
The Unbearable Likeness of Being it ain’t but who the hell would want that all over again. Oh yeah, I could really do with out Steve Jones taking a dump on a gold record and the woman who has her face covered in ants. But you can scan through those scenes.
GK