Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Performance 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 26, 2025

"Donald Cammell and Nic Roeg's "Performance" (1970) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include archival documentaries; new program with unseen cast and crew interviews; new program with biographer Keiron Pim; vintage trailer; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The fugitive

Performance merges two acts, each introducing a trick. The first act and its trick are easier to describe and rationalize. In it, a gangster from South London named Chas (James Fox) ignores an order and takes out an old nemesis. When his boss dispatches his henchmen to take him out, Chas calls a trusted forger and asks for a fake passport to get out of England and reach America. While the passport is being worked on, Chaz improvises and rents a room in a house owned by the famous rock star Turner (Mick Jagger), who uses it as his recording studio and bachelor pad, and while keeping a low profile, begins waiting for the forger to call him back. Assuming that Chas is a completely different person, Turner, his girlfriend, Pherber (Anita Pallenberg), and her French lover, Lucy (Michele Breton), engage him in a wildly incoherent, tainted by different drugs discussion about the nature of existence, creativity, and carnal pleasure.

The second act does not begin when the first ends. It is initiated shortly after Chas enters Turner’s house. More importantly, it uses the first as a pretext to redirect the viewer’s attention to something completely different. Then, at the right time, it does several things to get the viewer’s mind plugged into it. What exactly is the it? It is a very fluid place that the mind enters when it is heavily drugged. In the late 1960s and 1970s, filmmakers across the globe made various films that pulled off this exact trick. In America, these films preserved a lot of the spirit and madness of the counterculture era, so some of them, like Wild in the Streets and The Trip, became intriguing time capsules. In South America, Alejandro Jodorowsky’s films routinely visited wildly exotic places that only he knew existed. Behind the Iron Curtain, alcohol replaced drugs, and bizarre humor and biting satire produced different yet still similar time capsules. The best of them, like Teddy Bear and Sexmission came a little later, in the early 1980s, when these types of genre films, which everyone understood were critical of the communist regime, became a lot easier to make.

The two tricks complement each other, too. In the first act, Chas trades places with Turner when his boss’ henchmen track him down, but fate carefully blurs the effect of the switcheroo. As a result, the finale becomes a puzzle that can be interpreted in several ways. The second trick can be interpreted in twice as many ways, all equally frustrating. For example, all of the chatter between Chas and his hosts does not amount to anything meaningful, making it awfully easy to speculate that Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg were involved in another switcheroo, also powered by drugs.

But, why exactly? What were they trying to accomplish?

In archival programs, several cast members, Fox included, confess that they did not fully understand the narrative construction and what Performance was meant to convey. However, they did their best to penetrate what the minds of its creators were plugged into, the previously mentioned it. As an element of the narrative, it is the fluid place where Turner and the two girls spend the majority of their time while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Removed from the narrative, it is the zeitgeist of the era that transformed The Rolling Stones into the biggest rock band in the world. For this reason, Performance is most effective as an experimental time capsule, rather than a crime film about a gangster on the run.

In the second half, Jagger grabs a guitar and sings for several minutes. However, Performance could have been a much, much more attractive film with a richer soundtrack featuring a dozen or so different songs, some sung by other rockers, too.

Criterion's combo pack release presents an exclusive new 4K restoration of Performance, which retains the film's original UK theatrical audio track. In the past, in America, portions of this audio track were altered.

*Another film from the same era that blends similar themes and moods is Peter Watkins' Privilege, whose main protagonist is also a big British rock star.

Performance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of Performance is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-26 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #29-37 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

The following text appears inside the booklet included with this release:

"Approved by producer Sandy Lieberson, this new 4K restoration was created from the 35mm original camera negative and, for some section, a 35mm internegative. Used for color references were two Technicolor prints -- one 35mm IB dye-transferred print and one 35mm safety print from 1990 -- both held by the British Film Institute and projected at the BFI's screening room on Stephen Street in London. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from a 35mm magnetic track.

Mastering supervisors: Lee Kline, Giles Sherwood.
Colorist: Michel Hassidim/Resillion, New York.
Restoration: Resillion.
Audio restoration: The Criterion Collection."

In native 4K, the new 4K makeover can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with Dolby Vision. Also, later I spent time with its 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray.

Performance made its high-definition debut with this release, produced by Warner Archive in 2014. I have it in my library and think that it offers a pretty shaky presentation of the film. The 4K makeover gives the entire film a very healthy and stable organic appearance. In some areas with plenty of smaller nuances, delineation, clarity, and depth are significantly improved. On a larger screen, this uptick in quality can be quite pronounced because it becomes very easy to tell that the density levels of the new 4K makeover are a lot better, too. However, on a larger screen, the many density fluctuations introduced by the original cinematography are also more pronounced as well. Image stability and fluidity are terrific. What about color reproduction and balance? I think that there is more to like on the new 4K makeover. Various primaries and supporting nuances are significantly healthier and lusher, some better balanced, too. Browns, yellows, reds, and greens can look great. However, I also feel that in some areas there is a tendency to flatten smaller ranges of supporting nuances with too much steely gray/teal/green. This change makes some visuals a bit too cold. Good examples can be seen here and here. The Dolby Vision grade handles darker areas quite well. However, I should also say that the shift toward a colder color temperature in some areas affects darker nuances. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report. The entire film looks spotless.

Performance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: English LPCM1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is nicely rounded and very stable. I had the volume of my system turned up quite a bit because some of the accents throughout the film are rather thick, and did not hear any anomalies to report in our review. On the contrary, all exchanges and the music sounded great. Dynamic intensity is easy to describe as limited, but this is hardly surprising considering that the film was shot in 1970.

Performance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Bonus Features - there are no bonus features on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Donald Cammell: The Ultimate Performance - this archival documentary takes a closer look at Donald Cammell's life, image as an outsider, and collaboration with Nic Roeg on Performance. It gathers clips from interviews with James Fox, Mick Jagger, Barbara Steele, Patrick Baichau, Myriam Gibril, and Kenneth Anger, among others. The documentary was produced by Kevin Macdonald and Chris Rodley in 1998. In English, not subtitled. (71 min).

• Influence and Controversy: Making "Performance" - this archival documentary examines the conception and production of Performance, as well as the era in which the film emerged from. It gathers clips from interviews with producer Sanford Lieberson, Anita Pallenberg, and critic Colin MacCabe, among others. The documentary was produced in 2007. In English, not subtitled. (25 min).

• The True Story of David Litvinoff - in this new program, biographer Keiron Pim discusses the life and work of David Litvinoff, who helped transform James Fox into an authentic South London gangster, and served as a technical adviser on Performance. The program was produced for Criterion in 2024. In English, not subtitled. (21 min).

• Performance on "Performance" - this new program presents unused interviews with James Fox, Mick Jagger, Stanley Meadows, Anita Pallenberg, and Jonny Shannon that were gathered for the documentary Donald Vammell: The Ultimate Performance. In English, not subtitled. (35 min).

• The Two Cockneys of Harry Flowers - Johnny Shannon's character, Harry Flowers, was dubbed for U.S. audiences for the original theatrical release of Performance in 1971. This short program offers a side-by-side comparison of the dialogue tracks for the dubbed U.S. version and the original UK version, now available for the first time. In English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• Memo From Turner - this archival program presents promotional and raw footage showing Mick Jagger working on the soundtrack for Performance. In English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for Performance, courtesy of Warner Bros. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Booklet - a 28-page illustrated booklet featuring Ryan Gilbey's essay "Cavorting with the Void", Peter Wollen's article "Dandyism, Decadence, abd Death in Performance", and techncial credits.

Performance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Performance is an odd, often hilariously pretentious film that does not work as its creators imagined it could. However, it is an intriguing time capsule because it temporarily plugs into the zeitgeist of an era that produced cultural, social, and even political trends that are still relevant today. It needs to be seen, but I very much disagree that it is the landmark film some prominent critics have described. Criterion's combo pack introduces an exclusive new 4K restoration of Performance, retaining its original UK theatrical audio track, with a wonderful selection of bonus features. RECOMMENDED.