Sid & Nancy - Criterion Collection

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After the cultish success of Repo Man, maverick director Alex Cox made the film that remains his masterpiece--a loud, brash, abrasive, painful, funny, and utterly brilliant screen biography of British punk rocker Sid Vicious and his American girlfriend Nancy Spungen. As played to perfection by Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb, Sid and Nancy are made for each other, serving their mutual strengths and weaknesses and rising with the punk-rock fame of Sid's group, the Sex Pistols, while falling into the ultimately lethal pit of drug abuse. Cox doesn't pull any punches or compromise the unsavory aspects of this passionate love story, so the film presents a harsh mix of emotional and physical anguish tempered by the very poignant and genuine love shared by its tormented central characters. Through it all, the film emerges as an intimate and yet oddly epic chronicle of punk's glory days of anarchic sex, drugs and rock & roll. It's as dynamic and confidently directed as any screen biography before or since, no less fascinating for its unpleasant aspects as for the touching emotions at its very human core. --Jeff Shannon

Description

A lacerating love story, Sid & Nancy chronicles the brief, intense attachment of two of punk's most notorious poster children, Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. Director Alex Cox balances a bleak evocation of star-crossed love with surreal humor and genuine tenderness, creating a compelling portrait of the late '70s punk scene. With brilliant performances by Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb, the film's haunting imagery and black comedy resonate long after the final frames.

Customer Reviews:

F'ng Americans! All They Do Is Think About F"ng Sex!.......2007-07-23

Wow, this is one powerful perfect portrayel of the legacy that was Sid Viscious. Of course ive seen "The Filth And The Fury" and most punk documentaries,but this being a film gave me more of a feeling of what Sid was really like. From all ive seen and read about Sid and his relationship with Nancy,this film hit the mark straight on. The chemistry between Sid And Nancy is so bizarre but you cant help and start to care about the two. The performances are beyond belief. Gary Oldman to this day I honestly believe is an acting GOD. Hes simply amazing. After all of the tradgedy is all done my favorite scene of the entire movie has got to be Sid dancing with the little kids right before Nancy arrives in a taxi. This is such a great,powerful,funny film that will make you feel like you knew Sid And Nancy as personal friends. I admit that in the end I actually felt really sad even though I knew what was coming. Bottom line,this is yet another masterpiece added to my dvd reviews,and this one for sure should not be missed. This is a must!

first rate portrayal of addiction and decline, in the Punk scene.......2007-07-12

This has got to be the best film that I've seen about drug addiction and the emptiness of people who fall into it. The decline and death of the protagonists are frightening and depressing, so well acted that it is horribly, completely believable. Oldam and Webb are simply brilliant. Webb is totally believable as a border line personality, at times sensitive, but suddenly abusive and paranoid - it is subtle and perfectly acted.

But the film is much more than that. There is also a twisted love between two people who can only be described as complete losers: Sid, who is nothing but a youth disaster become celebrity by chance and Nancy, a suburban cast-off who has wandered into the drug world, S&M for pay, and a pathetic search for groupie association with stardom. While almost nothing on their own, together they enter a downward spiral that can result only in death. Together they are far worse than zero. You helplessly witness their descent into a hell of addiction and chaos.

Finally, there is a wonderful evocation of their milieu: the late-70s punk scene. I recall, as a middle-aged man, how this was the first youth movement in which I had no desire to participate: I had been a late-comer hippy and was aspiring to academia when this started. It was the first "movement" that repulsed me personally, that I had no desire whatsoever to mimic. In this film, you see how talentless and nihilistic punk really was, but also how it had the raw energy of urban youth in societies that could offer them nothing of value. Gone are the ideals and dreams of the 60s. Their chaos and drugs and indirection in the end were all that they had, so they lived it unto self-destruction. Their scene, as portrayed in this film, was a revelation to me and is brilliantly evoked.

Reccommended with enthusiasm. This is like a modern Balzacian tale of meaningless annihilation, a rememberance of a time, and a perfect work of art.

Pure Fantasy.......2007-05-06

Hey kids, let's glorify the use of heroin!

This film was a big mistake and terribly misleading to the younger generations who were not around for the origination of the Punk scene and the real news that surrounded the deaths of the Sid and Nancy.

Super for the "emo's" who love a tragic tale, but absolute drivel when it comes to reality. One gets the sense that these two ended up in a happy rock and roll heaven and all is well. What glory? Nonsense! Take it as fiction because the facts were much more harsh, pathetic, and disappointing.

I have been a fan of the Sex Pistols since the 70's and can only shake my head when I think of Sid- a very naive young man who couldn't handle stardom and fell into the hell and sorrow of drug addiction. Nancy did not help as she was a dealer and major manipulator.

The only thing that saves the film and makes it worth two stars is the integrity in which John Lydon is portrayed. There is some truth in that and they did do justice to his character.

If I had time to sit and watch any film even related to the Pistols, it would be the documentary "The Filth and The Fury." There you will find the truth. You will hear from Nancy herself about being a prostitute and from Sid about his feelings regarding his drug addiction.

Absolute Disaster.......2007-05-02

As a fan of Punk, this is one of the most disappointing films I've seen. Gary Oldham gives a laughably bad portrayal of Sid Vicious nothing like the real thing at all. Worst Punk film ever.

A Profile of a Train Wreck. .......2007-03-11

What I enjoyed most about Sid and Nancy was the profile of the Sex Pistols who (unfortunately) are only a vicarious part of the plot. I know that Johnny Lydon did not approve of this film, but I absolutely loved Schofield's portrayal of him here. In fact, he almost steals the spotlight from the train wreck that is the relationship between the main protagonists. I also thought that technically this film was outstanding. My favorite scene involved the press/party boat. After it was forcibly docked, the shot of Sid and Nancy gliding through the melee was exceptional. This movie has something in common with all period pieces we remember--it is incredibly well-done. My own appreciation for the film, however, was sabotaged by the fact that I was not even remotely interested in the love affair between Sid and Nancy. I found the gradual disintegration of their lives to rather depressing.

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