The Filth and the Fury 2000, Rated R

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There are very few Rock & Roll films that can honestly be considered 'must haves'--A Hard Day's Night and This is Spinal Tap are the only two that spring immediately to mind. There are even fewer films that are legitimately about a band, rather than just starring one. When rock and film come together, the results tend to be a misguided marriage. These movies are doomed by an inappropriate venue for the music, and they usually turn out to be kitchy (The Ghost Goes Gear), self-serving (Madonna: Truth or Dare), or downright idiotic (Cool As Ice).

Music documentaries can be a tricky thing to pull off, as you need a tone that suits the feel of the musician being documented. A by-the-numbers, A&E-style Biography approach is fine for a bland artist like Neil Diamond, but someone like Bob Dylan requires a special, darker touch, as demonstrated by D. A. Pennebaker in the excellent picture, Don't Look Back.

The Filth and the Fury is a documentary on English punk icons The Sex Pistols. This film works brilliantly because director Julien Temple has had a personal relationship with the band for many years and decided to make this movie in a much more experimental style than usual to better compliment The Sex Pistols' punk persona. The typical interviews with the band are present, but extraneous viewpoints from people outside the immediate circle of the band--viewpoints from fans, relatives or other musicians who discuss being influenced by the group--are notably absent. The only folks given interview time in new footage specifically shot for The Filth and the Fury are the living members of the band and their manager Malcolm McLaren.

Of course, none of this would matter if the subjects at hand were poor interviewees, but, fortunately this is not the case. Previously having made the film The Great Rock and Roll Swindle that is also about the band, Temple knew what he wanted to make here, and is able to steer the conversations/interviews in the right directions, with no topic ever getting too much attention. The film never becomes bogged down in piddling details either as exact dates and times are, for the most part, cast aside because they aren't that relevant to the evolution of the band.

While following the career of The Sex Pistols, from their formation through their prime, to their eventual break-up after the death of base player Sid Vicious, healthy analysis is given to the important developments, from their formation as a response to the Labor Party's broken promises to the working class of England, to the growing dissent within the band. Witness a British Counselor call the group "The antithesis of humankind", and Johnny Rotten's assertion that, to their fans, The Sex Pistols were about "being beautiful by not being beautiful".

These facets are just good documentary filmmaking though. But The Filth and the Fury is not a traditional documentary. Where Temple has truly deviated from the standard form is in the montage of images on the screen itself. The filmed interviews with the group are seen infrequently, and then only in silhouette. For the rest of the film's running time, Temple has assembled a vast mixture of filmed media, ranging from home movies to time-sensitive commercials to footage of a British production of Richard III to a young Shane McGowan singing "Anarchy in the U.K." to be on-screen. It's all very well thought-out and timed perfectly with the interviews that serve as the film's narration.

Wisely, the most interview time is given to John Lydon, the man who was the heart of the group. The now-infamous Sid Vicious was fortunately relegated to a sub-plot, shown as merely someone who captured the punk spirit after personality conflicts between Lydon and the original bass player forced The Sex Pistols to find a replacement. Other highlights include a British TV interview with the drunken Sex Pistols swearing rampantly (the complete version of this interview is available on the Criterion Collection version of Alex Cox' Sid & Nancy) and Lydon's many rants, including his description of heroin as "the lowest, worst form of love."

An anonymous speaker professed that The Sex Pistols "were a particularly ugly band." While this can't be denied, it can't take away from this incredibly researched, brilliantly assembled piece of work on one of the most influential bands of our time. Quite simply, The Filth and The Fury belongs on the shelf of anyone who's ever listened to punk rock or alternative music. Buy it. On DVD. Now.