Computer Age

The dirt and La Furia
The Filth And The Fury (2000)

Director: Julien Temple
Interpreters: Paul Cook, Stewart Copeland, Billy Idol, Steve Jones, John Lydon, Glen Matlock, Malcolm McLaren, Siouxsie Sioux, Nancy Spungen, Sting, Andy Summer, Sid Vicious (as themselves)

Of all the current socio-cultural convulsed encountered during the 70s of the twentieth century, perhaps the most punk which call attention to studying this period of history. Never before had channeled the youth of this form of hate and disenchantment towards a society increasingly remote from their ideals. The punk music was erected in the form of expression for much of this mass youth tired of feeling none; a rabid cry of protest that, without a doubt, the greatest exponent worldwide were the Sex Pistols.

Conflicting composed of four young working class district of London, the band was founded by wasps instinct of the owner of a clothing store fetishist named "Sex", Malcolm Mclaren, as anyone who knew atisbar business opportunities that had the vein of punk. The move left him virtually round, even though the disaster that was involved in the group during its short existence but fulminant. An existence that left the indelible imprint he was referring to dozens of groups and musicians who would come later.

One of the many products sponsored by Mclaren to make pasta of the phenomenon was the Sex Pistols movie The great rock 'n' Roll Swindle (The great rock and roll swindle), premiered in 1980 shortly after the dissolution of the band in the middle of total chaos. Neither the director, Julien Temple, nor the members of the group were very satisfied with the experience nor the result, so that years later gave Temple (himself and the Sex Pistols) an opportunity for redemption in the form of a documentary that honors decently the group and his time, counting the facts that had to do with them in a sincere and direct, without manipulation of any kind. Temple is locked in a room with all the material mounting on the Pistols he could find, and with that and with a series of interviews with members of the band pergeñó The dirt and fury.

This documentary makes a tour of a hundred-minute feature through which, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting biographies in the recent history of music, ranging from the times of Swankers (training immediately prior to the Pistols already integrating three of its members) to the disintegration of Sex Pistols in 1978 after a disastrous U.S. tour that would culminate soon after the death by overdose of Sid Vicious. The objective sought by the film is tell the truth about the group that championed the move punk in the late seventies, Bulos and trying to dismantle the myths that emerged around them. That is probably his best achievement: to demystify a band and a few characters who, far from seeking the total destruction of the system, rather just looking to pass it on the big goose on a stage, winning passage of some money but had no idea nor a bitch touching. With regard to hand over scabrous and outrageous of the Pistols, Temple tries to flee the sensationalism trying to do a thorough analysis of each act, which uses as a base these statements of the four survivors of the gang, also including an interview with Sid Vicious a year before his death. But the director was posi clearly in favor of the group according to what things such as his difficult dealings with Malcolm Mclaren (ruthlessly trampled here), or the relationship with Nancy Spungen Vicious, who is accused of little more than be to blame for the death of bassist.

Julien Temple also hit with the approach to the script and assembly (quite crazy but effective), interpreting that anyone who see the film need not be a deep knowledge of history that recounts. Insert pieces of the everyday life of the British era in the form of television ads, bits of news, or programs for success of the moment (like "Benny Hill") through which introduces the viewer into a sort of "tunnel time" and it explains the causes that led to the advent of punk and, consequently, the same Pistols. To avoid possible deviations in its purpose, the filmmaker avoids showing pictures of current members of the group (in snippets of interviews in which they appear is always backlit). By the same token, neither referred to any time after the breakup of the band and the death of Vicious in 1979.

The dirt and fury is much better to the more fan of the Sex Pistols will be, but if you are not does not matter much. The film shows and has some very funny moments, like the story of unpayable Steve Jones on how agencies are decent tools for their colleagues or the interview with Bill Grundy on TV. In any case, this is a great opportunity to learn first hand about the stormy and seductive portrayal of one of the most controversial, irreverent and lawless, key to understanding the evolution of music in the latter half of the twentieth century.