The Cinematheque

Made at the height of the Psychedelic Sixties, cinematographer Nicholas Roeg’s extraordinary directorial debut, co-helmed by Donald Cammell, is a hallucinatory psychological melodrama that ranks among the most complex and compelling visual mosaics of the English filmmaker’s career. Mick Jagger (in his film-acting debut) stars as Turner, a fading rock star living in decadent semi-seclusion with two young women. James Fox is Chas, a violent London gangster who takes refuge in Turner’s domain. A bizarre interchange of identities, fuelled by psychoactive drugs, develops between the two men. A musical highlight has Sir Mick singing ​“Memo from Turner,” a Jagger solo single, featuring slide guitar by Ry Cooder, that later appeared on some Rolling Stones compilations. Warner Brothers, apparently expecting a Stones version of A Hard Day’s Night, was not prepared for the sex and strangeness, and shelved the film for two years.