Tommy (1975)

Directed by: Ken Russell | 111 minutes | drama, fantasy, musical | Actors: Oliver Reed, Ann-Margret, Roger Daltrey, Elton John, John Entwistle, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Paul Nicholas, Jack Nicholson, Robert Powell, Pete Townshend, Tina Turner, Arthur Brown, Victoria Russell, Ben Aris, Mary Holland , Gary Rich, Dick Allan, Barry Winch, Eddie Stacey

Captain Walker didn’t come home, his unborn child will never know him

Any self-respecting rock fan will recognize the above line immediately. These are the first words of ‘Tommy’, the rock opera with which The Who immortalized themselves in 1969. When the double album is released, it becomes clear that the spectacular story, about a boy who becomes pinball champion as a deaf-mute blind man and then falls under his own popularity, requires a film adaptation. In 1975 the time has finally come.

‘Listening to you, I get the music’

The film adaptation does cost the makers a lot of thought. First they have to thoroughly revise music and lyrics. Some instrumentals are shortened (Sparks), others disappear completely (Underture). To make the story flow more smoothly, the members of The Who are writing some new pieces of music, pieces that may not all be fantastic but help to clarify the story. Perhaps the biggest difference with the original work is that several guest singers appear. It produces some beautiful arrangements, of which Acid Queen (Tina Turner) and Pinball Wizard (Elton John) stand out in particular. The ‘real’ actors (Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Jack Nicholson) also sing their parts themselves. Although it doesn’t go well with Reed in particular, it does make sure that ‘Tommy’ is musically less smooth than other music films.

‘He’s your leader, he’s your guide, on the amazing journey together you’ll ride’

The director who is brought in to provide this beautiful music with equally beautiful images is the Englishman Ken Russell. Visually, the films Russell makes for this vary from exuberant to completely hysterical. These films are therefore not always welcomed. Fortunately, Russell turns out to be the right man in the right place. The film is a spectacle, full of colours, visual excesses and psychedelic trips. Eyesight to the Blind, Acid Queen and Amazing Journey in particular look great, while Champagne (Ann-Margret dressed in white and hit by a bean-in-sauce bombardment in a white room) is remarkable to say the least. In this way ‘Tommy’, led by Russell, becomes a wonderful journey in which your eyes and ears fail.

‘I’m free, I’m free, and freedom tastes of reality!’

Although the story of ‘Tommy’ has a few jolly elements, there are plenty of serious themes beneath the surface. The blindness with which Tommy is afflicted is a metaphor for the blindness with which most people go through life. Tommy’s healing is therefore a spiritual rebirth rather than a literal healing. Pete Townshend, leader of The Who, is under the influence of an Indian guru at the time when he writes ‘Tommy’, an influence that is clearly reflected in the theme.

‘The crowd went crazy as Tommy hit the stage’

But ‘Tommy’ has an even more interesting theme. In the 1960s and 1970s, rock stars increasingly began to take the place of God, a God that few people believe in anymore. The rock stars don’t make much of an effort to counteract that reverence. ‘Tommy’ shows not only the enormous distance that has arisen between the idol and his fan, but also how a fan drops his hero if he does not provide instant redemption, or when merchandising takes on a dominant role. The nice thing about ‘Tommy’ is that a number of former idols participate in the film. For example, Eric Clapton, mistakenly mistaken for God in the 1960s, plays a humble servant in the temple of another idol (Marilyn Monroe). We also see Elton John with fabulous glasses and platform soles that reach almost to the ceiling.

‘I get excitement at your feet’

Like ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and ‘The Wall’, ‘Tommy’ proves that sometimes the combination of exciting music and exciting visuals is more than the sum of its parts. In that respect, ‘Tommy’ is a quintessential exponent of the 1970s, a decade in which rock shows are huge spectacles with slide shows, inflatable piglets and liquid projections. However, that time constraint does not detract from the quality of this film. In fact, in order not to enjoy the spectacle ‘Tommy’, you as a viewer have to be just about blind and deaf. And a bit stupid too.