Performance is a 1970 British crime drama film directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, written by Cammell and filmed by Roeg. The film stars James Fox as a violent and ambitious London gangster who, after killing an old friend, goes into hiding at the home of a reclusive rock star (Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones).

 

The film was produced in 1968 but not released until 1970, as Warner Bros. was reluctant to distribute the film, owing to its sexual content and graphic violence. It initially received a mixed critical response, but its reputation has grown since then, and it is now regarded as one of the most influential and innovative films of the 1970s, as well as one of the greatest films in the history of British cinema.

Performance introduced the fractured storytelling and editing style of cinematographer-turned-director Nicolas Roeg. Co-director and screenwriter Donald Cammell can be credited for the mind-bending, debauched tone, which so outraged Warner Bros that the studio shelved the film for two years. The use of colour is extraordinarily vivid, while the soundtrack incorporates Jack Nitzsche’s unnerving score alongside songs that include Jagger’s Memo from Turner.

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