Tommy

• Written, Co-Produced, and Directed by Ken Russell
• March 19, 1975 (US) / March 26, 1975 (UK)
• Based on the Who’s 1969 rock opera album Tommy

A psychosomatically deaf, mute, and blind child becomes a pinball champion and religious leader.

As ‘70s presentations go, Tommy is probably among the strangest. It’s a surreal and dreamlike presentation with numerous visual callbacks to various points throughout the movie. Green and green coats or spheres and pinballs link the movie.

This is an outlandish and bizarre commentary on religion, sex, and celebrity worship while also taking swings at war, religion, and the pop culture of the time. Director Ken Russell creates a very strange film that on a surface view is almost a comedy but once you scratch at the veneer is something deeper. This is an irreverent pop art odyssey.

There is not a single line of dialogue to be found. Every thought and scene and emotion is communicated in song. Not all are trained singers. Besides the musicians that make cameos of varying lengths, we get Oliver Reed with questionable singing skills acting the hell out of the film. Tommy is almost like a string of music videos using modern parlance. Or old parlance considering music videos aren’t much of a thing anymore.

Oliver Reed as Tommy’s (Roger Daltry) ‘Uncle’ Frank and Ann-Margaret as mother Nora is a casting pairing that could only occur in the 70s. They are joined by the likes of Elton John as The Champ, Eric Clapton as The Preacher, Jack Nicholson as Dr. A. Quackson, Robert Jesus in Jesus of Nazareth Powell, and Tina Turner as The Acid Queen just to name a few.

Each song tells the story of Tommy’s journey from mute boy to icon who is a pinball wizard to finally finding a type of freedom at the end for himself only with the cycle set to repeat. His story gets a bit tragic, but they don’t shove it in your face. You’re mostly distracted by the music and the visuals. Most everyone is using him. His family loves him but there attempts to help in a situation they cause are poor if not seriously questionable. There are even hints of sexual abuse or just abuse. During this very surreal musical journey we get a feel for the characters who are rather multifaceted.

Ann-Margaret herself is a trained singer and has been in her share of musicals, so she knows how to put on a show in the genre. Reed for his part was an excellent actor even if he was a bit intense and colorful off-screen. Both lean into their skills while singing with Ann-Margaret putting on a bit of a stage show.

There is something very 70s about Daltrey’s performance. I wish I could put it in better words. I wish he was able to perform better blank expression. Once it breaks Tommy becomes a character. I guess it’s one of those silly things that not every actor can do well.

Narratively it can meander a bit as Russell works hard to fit in every bit of strangeness he can come up with. It moves slowly yet still manages to keep you locked in. This is not a movie that begs you to look at it but a movie that is hard not to look at. It’s strange in a style that few things to ever hit the screen have been. So much either means something or could mean something and it’s always connecting back to itself or alluding to the future. Russell was a unique director, and his special style works well here to bring viewers something very different.

I have seen some of Russell’s other work and cannot say I was a fan. However what he does works well here. Perhaps because he does not hold back. Gothic aged poorly for me viewing it a few years ago after a decades long gap and Altered States was nothing I cared for when I saw it shortly after release on VHS. Maybe I just matured.

It is fun and maybe a little indulgent. It drowns you both in visuals and in sounds. Never does it let up until the end though in a way saying that the cycle of what you jut saw will begin again with anther soul.

Tommy is a different kind of film experience and a very good one. Strange and unusual and surreal in ways other films cannot be. This may not be for everybody but for Who fans or fans of great music this is definitely a must watch.