Tommy [M]

After witnessing his mother and her lover murder his father, thought to be lost during the war, Tommy is commanded, “you didn’t see it, you didn’t hear it, and you won’t say anything to anyone”. Traumatised, young Tommy becomes deaf, dumb, and blind. Growing into manhood, Tommy is subjected to strange practices in the hope that he can be cured. But one day he discovers pinball and despite his handicap he defeats the reigning pinball champion and becomes hailed as a Messiah by devoted fans. 

Let me tell you about my first exposure to the very first ‘rock opera’ that is Tommy. I was about 5 or 6 and in a video store with my parents renting some movies. Tommy was playing on the screens in the store and as my folks were paying I began to watch it. I remember distinctly that it was the ‘Acid Queen’ part of the film, which is actually really scary for anyone, but for a child of 5 it was downright terrifying! This is my second attempt to appreciate and enjoy Tommy as an adult and I simply cannot do it because of that petrifying experience in the video store. Quite literally, this movie makes me sick in the stomach and more than once during it I curled into the foetal position. This is not me saying that this movie is shocking or bad in any way, I’m just letting you all know that my review of it may seem to be biased that way because I have a history with this movie that strongly affects the way in which I watch it. 

After witnessing his mother and her lover murder his father, thought to be lost during the war, Tommy is commanded, “you didn’t see it, you didn’t hear it, and you won’t say anything to anyone”. Traumatised, young Tommy becomes deaf, dumb, and blind. Growing into manhood, Tommy is subjected to strange practices in the hope that he can be cured. But one day he discovers pinball and despite his handicap he defeats the reigning pinball champion and becomes hailed as a Messiah by devoted fans. 

Tommy was the first ‘rock opera’, which is a step above and beyond the genre of musical because all dialogue is muted and the story is told entirely through song. Although the movie travels as a musical for a fair way in that characters sing whilst they meander through reality, the rock opera status is achieved through various segments that are directed more in the style of a music video. This was a 70s movie and for the music industry this was also a time when music videos were becoming increasingly popular and the marriage of the audio and the visual had evolved into a new art form. The various chapters that become a little bizarre and even scary like the Acid Queen scene and the chocolate and beans sequence I think embody a bit of a celebration of the time and what it was doing to the senses. After all, the story is about a man with no senses so it seems appropriate that director Ken Russell would make the movie itself an assault on the senses of its audience. 

Whilst we’re on the topic of music in the 70s, it’s important to note that this was a time when music itself was changing and different genres were being mixed together and becoming sensational. Take Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ as evidence of that. Tommy proves to be a similar embodiment of that but on a much larger scale. I say this because after we’ve gotten over the Acid Queen and Tommy’s questionable relatives, another story comes into clearer view: one of biblical scale that we all know. We often see rock music as representing freedom, rebellion, and a means of sticking it to the man, but this I think is an interpretation that took hold in the 80s. In the 70s, there were many artists like the Who who were blending rock music with history, famous figures, and concepts. The Messiah story that is weaved into Tommy is again another celebration of the times and this is where the movie stands in a realm of its own. Retelling this particular biblical story set against a rock soundtrack seems so strange to a modern audience. On the one hand we can appreciate it because it is so different, but then on the other hand there’s a part of our brain that can’t appreciateit on the same level as people from that time so there is some division in terms of audience. 

Starring Roger Daltrey, Oliver Reed, Ann-Margret, Eric Clapton, Robert Powell, John Entwistle, Pete Townshend, Keith Moon, Paul Nicholas, Elton John, Tina Turner, and Jack Nicholson, Tommy is a movie that stands at the forefront of visionary, but because it is such a celebration of a specific time, it’s prowess and power may not be grasped or appreciated by modern audiences. Filled with cults, drama, a fair few scary sequences, and non-stop rock music, my enjoyment of it was tarnished at an early age but don’t let that dissuade you from watching a bit of cinematic history. This movie is special and an important piece of cinema, I just can’t enjoy it as much as everyone else.