sid & nancy
This is one crazy-ass movie.
That sounds simplistic, and it is. But it's really hard to start writing about Sid & Nancy in any other way.
In truth, it's a crazy-ass movie because Sid and Nancy lived crazy-ass lives. For those of you who don't know, Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen were lovers, losers, junkies, and geniuses. Nowadays I'm sure they'd both go to rehab, get clean, and start living quasi-productive lives sometime in their forties. Heroin addiction just isn't as cool as it used to be.
A few decades ago, though, you'd be hard-pressed to find the successful musical prodigy that didn't have some mind-altering chemical or another polluting his veins. That's, unfortunately, what deprived us of more amazing talent than I really want to think about: Presley, Hendrix, Joplin... and Vicious, I guess.
It's depressing stuff. Not really that fun to watch. What kept me watching Sid & Nancy, though, was this: in spite of being completely drugged out and fucked up, these people managed to actually love each other. The whole story is a downward spiral... genius being diluted by smack... lost opportunities... lost lives... but through it all, the two of them never let go of one another. Now of course you could say that Sid and Nancy stayed together because of the drugs; that they were co-dependent and the relationship was part of the addiction. But there's a puny, struggling remnant of romanticism within me that just wants to believe love can conquer all.
Oh, yeah... and Gary Oldman can act.
That sounds simplistic, and it is. But it's really hard to start writing about Sid & Nancy in any other way.
In truth, it's a crazy-ass movie because Sid and Nancy lived crazy-ass lives. For those of you who don't know, Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen were lovers, losers, junkies, and geniuses. Nowadays I'm sure they'd both go to rehab, get clean, and start living quasi-productive lives sometime in their forties. Heroin addiction just isn't as cool as it used to be.
A few decades ago, though, you'd be hard-pressed to find the successful musical prodigy that didn't have some mind-altering chemical or another polluting his veins. That's, unfortunately, what deprived us of more amazing talent than I really want to think about: Presley, Hendrix, Joplin... and Vicious, I guess.
It's depressing stuff. Not really that fun to watch. What kept me watching Sid & Nancy, though, was this: in spite of being completely drugged out and fucked up, these people managed to actually love each other. The whole story is a downward spiral... genius being diluted by smack... lost opportunities... lost lives... but through it all, the two of them never let go of one another. Now of course you could say that Sid and Nancy stayed together because of the drugs; that they were co-dependent and the relationship was part of the addiction. But there's a puny, struggling remnant of romanticism within me that just wants to believe love can conquer all.
Oh, yeah... and Gary Oldman can act.
November 25, 2008 at 6:36 PM
Love, love, love this movie! Alex Cox, the director, also made Repo Man (his punk movie before this one) and Walker (Ed Harris stars as the forgotten central American dictator) which are awesome.
Everyone should see this movie so that they can say, "There's no fucking!" knowingly as I often do. Also the song that the yuppie dweeb pitches to Johnny and Sid on the bus never fails to bring a smile, "I want a job, I want a good job. One that satisfies my artistic needs". :)
The Filth and the Fury is an excellent documentary about the Pistols as well.
November 25, 2008 at 6:53 PM
I want a job I want a job on the youtubes. Totally got the lyrics wrong, how apropos.