‘Performance’ Blu-Ray Review – James Fox & Mick Jagger Conjure Gangster Psychedelia

ln underworld terms, Chas Devlin is a “performer,” a gangster with a talent for violence and intimidation. Turner is a reclusive rock superstar. When Chas and Turner meet, their worlds collide and the impact is both exotic and explosive. James Fox and Mick Jagger indelibly play Chas and Turner in this spellbinder of illusion and reality, decadence and decay. Fugitive Chas hides in Turner’s cavernous house. Events then spiral into an eerie breakdown of barriers and roles in which Chas sees his sense of reality vanish. And Turner’s experiment of self-discovery leads to a shocking final performance of his own. Co-directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, Performance has become a modern movie legend. Experience it and understand why.

For thoughts on Performance, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required:

Video Quality

Warner Archive presents Performance with a lovely 1080p master transfer that accurately reflects the film. The label treats its titles with an equal amount of care, and this release is a great effort from them during the early part of their transition to HD in 2014. With the various grungy locations, you are treated to a visual landscape of detail and clarity that gives you a lot to observe. The cinematography from co-director Nicolas Roeg has a bit of a stylistically soft appearance depending on the narrative needs. 

The natural film grain elevates the picture with the texture that delivers the good. The film features some bold colors within the clothing and production design that saturate the screen with notable accuracy. The film is essentially flawless with no obvious instances of damage or dirt detected anywhere. Highlights remain in good shape and black levels do not suffer from crush. Compression artifacts, banding, and other such discrepancies do not serve as an issue in this transfer. Warner Archive did get work with this notorious picture.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a remastered DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio split mono track that restores a line that was missing from the old DVD of the feature. From what we understand, this track is perfectly in line with the sonic intentions of the film. Dialogue and background noises are deployed very deliberately here with overlapping voices and lines not clearly anchored in the present action. Everything is balanced patiently along with the music that drives the film. The more trippy moments are handled well and give the track a bit of character. There is no egregious age-related wear and tear to the track such as hissing, dropouts, or popping. Warner Archive has delivered a disc that holds up well. Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included for the feature film.

Special Features

• Influence and Controversy: A 25-minute archival featurette from 2007 featuring producer Sanford Lieberson, co-editor Frank Mazzola, co-star Anita Pallenberg, and more who discuss the conception of the film, the preparations of the performers, the contributions of the directors, the controversial elements of the film, and more. 

• Memo From Turner: A five-minute look at how the studio tried to market this film on the star power of Mick Jagger. 

• Trailer: A nearly three-minute trailer is provided here. 

Final Thoughts

Performance is a very challenging film to enter into casually with its disinterest in a conventional plot and psychedelic ethos. A single viewing will probably leave you at least somewhat puzzled by what you have watched, and some may be too put off to return in an attempt to uncover more layers to the experience. Those showing up strictly for Mick Jagger should probably temper expectations for at least the first hour, as he is a smaller part of a larger narrative. There are some decent moments here, but it is not an easy movie to love. Warner Archive has released a fine Blu-Ray that sports an agreeable A/V presentation and a welcome selection of archival supplements.

Performance can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.