Tommy (1975)

 

Tommy, based upon the rock opera by the Who, is one bizarre movie. It’s not always easy to follow the possible meanings of what happens on screen, but it is certainly intriguing to watch. The film follows the life of a young boy who watches his father, presumed dead in World War II, get killed by his mother’s new lover. His mother, Nora (Ann-Margret), and her lover, Frank (Oliver Reed), convince Tommy that he didn’t see or hear what he actually saw and heard; they also tell him never to speak of what he saw or heard. When he then behaves as if he’s – in the language of the time – deaf, dumb, and blind, they seem shocked. I’ve found this odd every time I’ve seen this film; they demand that he behave as if he were deaf, dumb, and blind, then they try to figure out how to “cure” him of his deafness, dumbness, and blindness? Very peculiar of them not to figure that out for themselves. Nevertheless, the couple embark on a series of strange potential remedies. Nora takes Tommy to a meeting of a cult that worships Marilyn Monroe. Really, it’s an excuse for Eric Clapton to perform “Eyesight to the Blind,” but having all of those masked Monroe impersonators touching all of the people seeking cures is quite creepy. Frank then takes Tommy to a drug-addled prostitute called the Acid Queen. She’s played with great ferociousness by the amazing Tina Turner, a quite hypnotic presence on the screen. Her few moments are a highlight of the film even if some of the imagery is quite unsettling to watch. Nora and Frank then try to find appropriate babysitters for Tommy and make some awful choices: Cousin Kevin (Paul Nicholas), a sadist who tortures the poor boy, and then Uncle Ernie (the Who’s drummer, Keith Moon), who is some sort of pervert. Uncle Ernie’s portion is depicted as just weird sounds with a black screen; we should probably be grateful. I haven’t even mentioned that Tommy is played as an adult by Roger Daltrey, the lead singer of the Who, but to be fair, it’s not much of a portrayal for much of the film. He really seems more catatonic than deaf, dumb, and blind. He stares at a mirror a lot until he wanders away from home one night and finds a pinball machine – a working pinball machine at that – in a junkyard because, of course, there would be a working pinball machine in a junkyard atop a bunch of wrecked cars. Why wouldn’t there be? It turns out that Tommy is some sort of prodigy, and he has to face the Pinball Wizard (Elton John, glorious in that outrageous outfit with the enormous shoes, another highlight of the film) in a tournament. Tommy becomes rich playing pinball because, of course, you become rich playing pinball, so his family takes advantage of his success and starts making money from his fame. Later, when Tommy becomes a new messianic figure, the head of a new cult, Nora and Frank again make money off his fame. When the attendees at Tommy’s “holiday camp” near the film’s end revolt because he’s not providing them with anything useful, you sense that there’s some sort of commentary on capitalism going on, perhaps a critique of Great Britain’s post-war treatment of the working class, but gain, it’s tough to discern exactly what the film is trying to say because everything just seems so strange. The production design for Tommy is amazing, as is the costume design. Ann-Margret’s outfits become quite spectacular as the film progresses, but the costumes worn by Turner and John are certainly iconic as well. At times, Tommy calls into question what is real and what isn’t. For example, Ann-Margret’s infamous scene where the television she’s been watching spills out stuff like foam and baked beans and chocolate may be a figment of her imagination. It’s almost impossible to tell for certain. Given that this is the film version of a rock opera, you’d expect the performances by the rock stars like the Who and Clapton to be good, and they are. However, Oliver Reed is no singer, and Jack Nicholson as a doctor with a potential cure for Tommy isn’t a singer either. Daltrey himself doesn’t even sing until almost seventy minutes into the movie. Doesn’t it seem odd that the lead singer of the band that created the work upon which the movie is based would be relegated to just a few songs in the last third or so of the movie? Yes, I understand that the plot calls for Tommy, his character, to be deaf, dumb, and blind, but someone else could have played the role so that most of the singing duties weren’t delegated to Pete Townsend – not that I have anything against Townsend’s singing.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role (Ann-Margret) and Best Original Song Score and/or Adaptation