The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (1980)

As far back as the spring of 1977, Malcolm McLaren had been trying to get a film about the Sex Pistols off the ground. At that time, the punk craze which the Pistols had spearheaded was flourishing in the UK even as McLaren "managed" the band into a blind alley; by 1980, when this abomination of a film was finally released, the Pistols were no more and punk had splintered into a confusing variety of subgenres. What does "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" tell the viewer about the Sex Pistols and why they mattered? Sadly, not much. "That film was us preventing the whole thing from turning into a dreadful tragedy and turning it into a fantastic enigma," McLaren said years later in "England's Dreaming", Jon Savage's definitive tome on UK punk. "That's what we tried to do, to lie incredibly." In that regard they succeeded, but McLaren's statement was pure bullshit: he and director Julien Temple lied out of necessity. Vocalist John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) had left the band in early 1978, and budgetary constraints prevented the hiring of actors for anything more than a few minor roles, so McLaren *had* to take center stage. The end result was a long, disjointed rant (padded with live footage, interviews, animated sequences and painfully unfunny scenes intended as comic relief) about how causing the Pistols to self-destruct had been his master plan all along, and it's terrible. Only during a performance of the title song does it look as if anyone's having any fun. McLaren repeatedly insists that the music itself was meaningless, that he was interested only in attracting adolescent fans "who loved to dress up and mess up." Which begs the age-old question: was punk ever about music, or was it just a pose? That query will elicit a broad range of responses from the various participants in the movement. But ask guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook (who had formed the group before McLaren entered the picture, and for whom the Sex Pistols were a labor of love) and they'll tell you that the Pistols were a rock 'n' roll band, plain and simple. They're right. The gestures--the haircuts, the silly clothes, the pretensions of revolution--were empty. It's the music that endures.

This film was all right the first time I saw it (bear in mind that I was 12 or 13 at the time and there weren't many films about punk rock). Since then I learned much more about "punk" and lost all respect for Malcolm McLaren and the like. His management of the New York Dolls was a disaster and he basically tried to incorporate what he learned (i.e. ripped off) from them into the Pistols. There's an amusing interview with Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers where Johnny is asked if he learned anything from Malcolm; Johnny laughs and says sarcastically. "How to be a nice gay gentleman..." Heh. The Sid Vicious bits are amusing and make this worth watching but that's about it; go watch The Filth and the Fury.

Malcom McLaren died two days ago. He was, basically, a legend in his own mind. This is not to put him down but to say that, like Howard Beale in "Network" or even Barack Obama in the White House, he was up against the BIG BOYS with money. On to the film......A "mocku, rocku, documentary" of the Sex Pistols, it's really up there with "This is Spinal Tap" and "The Rutles"....very enjoyable bullshit, though totally biased. McLaren's view of history and his part in it.Back in 1980 fans of the Pistols (like me) had very limited chances of seeing them and the archival footage here is great!! So is the animation but you do need the inside story to understand it. Younger viewers will not understand who Ronnie Biggs is or why "Belsen Was a Gas" is in such bad taste. Read some history before seeing.The songs are hot and director Julien Temple suffered under McLaren's ideas of what should be in the film. He did much better in "The Filth and the Fury" and for some more accurate views of the era, read "England's Dreaming" by Jon Savage and "Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs" by John Lydon.And for us die-hard fans, youTube has some amazing videos, including the final show at Winterland.

To this day, Malcolm McLaren is telling anyone daft enough to believe him that the Sex Pistols were his idea and that the band members were his puppets to be used to make him money. There is a good reason for him doing this, namely that he is a liar.Here are some real facts.* McLaren was actually approached by the band to be manager, not the other way round.* The Pistols were a proper, organic band and not created by McLaren or anyone else. Jones and Cook were childhood friends. Rotten and Vicious went back a long way too. This is something that has led to unfair criticism of the Pistols down the years as they have been likened to manufactured boy bands.* The band and no one else wrote the songs, recorded them, played live, created the publicity and gave the interviews.* McLaren did not instigate the Bill Grundy incident. The Pistols only appeared on the programme because Queen had pulled out. According to the band, McLaren was cowering in the back in case arrests were about to be made.* Johnny Rotten walked out of the band. He was not sacked.* Far from outwitting the Sex Pistols, John Lydon (Rotten) actually successfully sued him in the 1980s for control and a considerable sum of money. Some of the evidence used by Lydon's lawyers was from McLaren's boasting in 'The Great Rock & Roll Swindle'. This would suggest that McLaren is none too bright despite his affectations.* The sackings and subsequent pay offs from A & M and EMI were, again, not engineered, it was merely the way things panned out.* McLaren boasts about the money he made from the band. If he had been competent, he could have made a great deal more. It seems he coudn't even organise gigs properly.* McLaren's claim at the start of the film that he invented punk rock can be disproved in about ten seconds. The Pistols were not the first punk band, merely the most high profile.This is a terrible film. The only parts worth watching are the genuine footage of the band, later put to much better use in 'The Filth And The Fury'.