Tommy

 

Tommy 1975

• Director: Ken Russell
• Cast: Roger Daltrey, Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner
• Why? A classic
• Seen: Two or three times before. Now 8 June 2025              

 If you want to analyse symbols it’s all about blind faith, commercialised religion, traumatised salvation and all that. If you’d rather just see it as a rock opera extravaganza with mostly mediocre music and idiotic lyrics with lots of colour and flash, that’s OK too. Or maybe just a pretentious self-indulgent acid trip. Or a brilliant break-through in innovative rock music and film making. Or all of the above. Or none of the above. Whatever. You should probably see it, even though it goes on far too long and loses focus, if it ever had any. Because it’s quite often entertaining between the boring parts

 

3* of 5