The Filth and the Fury: A Sex Pistols Film (DVD)

Julian Temple's extraordinary tapestry of archive film, period television, fresh interviews and Richard III is one of the very best rockumentaries of all time. Like Don't Look Back, Let It Be or the recent Dig!, Some Kind Of Monster and The Devil And Daniel Johnston, the film succeeds in proving captivating and enthralling even if one couldn't care less about the work of the artists under consideration. That The Filth And The Fury is so wildly entertaining is a miracle in itself, given the sheer volume of Sex Pistols-related documentaries, magazine articles, books, retrospectives and re-appraisals offered since their disbanding post-Great Rock N Roll Swindle ...  Read the complete review

Contrary to popular opinion, I didn't really like this documentary. Being a big Sex Pistols fan I was really looking forward to seeing it, but when I did I was really disappointed. This film does not show you anything that you haven't really seen before (if you are a Sex Pistols fan). It does include much more one2one interviewing with the band members, Johnny Rotten in particular, but what they say they have said before. This is not an in-depth look at what it was to be the Sex Pistols, it is a broad overview of why the Sex Pistols came to be what they did and why they broke up. I am willing to concede that 2 hours is not long enough ...  Read the complete review

Undeniably one of the greatest rockumentaries of the year (and possibly of all time) has to be 'The Filth & The Fury' - a film made by the same man who bought us The Sex Pistols' Malcolm McLaren's (their manager) view of the band ages ago in 'The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle'. This time however, 20yrs, the band themselves get a chance to unlock the myths of The Sex Pistols, even if singer/frontman John (then Johnny Rotten) Lydon's viewpoint is the most outstanding, and leaving other members accounts seem as if they're trailing or lingering, but even so Lydon's account will be of most interest as he was the figure-head of the ...  Read the complete review

Absolutely amazing! This film is truly the holy grail for any Sex Pistols fanatic! Until now fans had to settle for the awful 'Great Rock and Roll Swindle'. Yet now we have a film that features footage of Johnny Rotten singing 'God save the Queen' in the studio, Sid talking frankly after the death of Nancy, very early pre-Anarchy tour footage, and even their first gig! Director and life long friend of the Band Julien Temploe's work on this film is very enthusiastic as he incorporates footage of late 70's television advertisments and news fotage into the documentry. It is not just a film about a band but also an important document of the social ...  Read the complete review

If this film is showing anywhere near you I recommend that you go and see it. The Sex Pistols' history is marred by the fight between Lydon and Malcolm McLaren. This film shows both sides of the argument, and of course Lydon comes off best, showing that he genuinely believed in what the Sex Pistols were trying to do and was not trying to cynically manipulate the public. This film also gives some good indications as to why exactly punk music came about, and why it was so shortlived. The social conditions of the mid-70s, and the appalling pap that passed for "entertainment" (Dick Emery show etc) are shown in soundbites. Together with shots of the ...  Read the complete review