cinefest Encore
Tommy
Ken Russell, GB 1974/75, 96 min, OmU
Music: The Who. Book: Ken Russell, Pete Townshend. 96 min. Original with German subtitles
As a child, Tommy (Roger Daltrey) has to watch his mother's lover murder his father and as a result of the shock becomes blind, deaf and mute. When the humiliated outsider discovers his extraordinary talent at the pinball machine and even beats the Pinball Wizard (Elton John), he becomes the idol of a huge fan community. Tommy experiences a spiritual enlightenment and founds a religious community that soon has a huge following.
But the followers increasingly commercialize his message, while Tommy wants to remain true to the basic ideas. When he opposes the path he has chosen, they drop him coldly.
In 1969, The Who turned the material into a masterful double album, in 1975, Ken Russell's rock musical was made into a film with an equally first-class cast. Among others with Roger Daltrey, Ann-Margret, Jack Nicholson, Elton John, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, The Who.
