Tommy (5 Stars)

I overwhelm as I approach you,
Make your lungs hold breath inside.
Grounded angels, your wings are broken,
Time to mend and learn to fly.

They worship me and all I touch,
Hazy eyed they catch my glance,
Pleasant shudders shake their senses,
My warm momentum throws their stance.

I leave a trail of rooted people,
Mesmerised by just the sight,
The few I touched now are disciples,
Love as one, I am the Light!

I am the Light!

My three reviews of this film so far have been very different. They all pick out different aspects of the film. It's a film that says a lot. It's not easy to reconcile the different parts of the film with one another because different messages are told from one scene to the next. I didn't say that it's impossible to reconcile, just difficult. The problem with "Tommy", the film, is that it has unfathomable depths that have been breathed into it by Ken Russell. These are depths that are missing from the Who's original rock opera. Ken Russell took the Who's music and used it to tell his own story, with Pete Townsend's full approval. The result is a film of epic proportions.

Maybe one day I'll write a complete review of "Tommy". Maybe, maybe not. To do it justice I'd have to write something the length of a doctoral thesis. I'd have to pick out the film's individual themes one by one and follow their development.

The film is about false religion. It shows that all paths to salvation are doomed to fail. Religious systems attract evil men who fill the upper positions to make money. The religion's leader, the Messiah, is so involved with his teachings that he's unaware of the corruption in the organisational structure. When the followers turn against the religion they reject not only the corrupt officials but the Messiah himself, the very one who could help them.

That's one major theme. Another is the question whether the Messiah is right to apply his own personal path to salvation to his followers. Tommy began his life as a man who couldn't be saved. Then he found salvation, and rather than selfishly enjoying it he created a religion to offer others the same blessings by leading them along the same path that he trod. Is that correct? Maybe everyone needs to find his own path.

The film uses literally hundreds of extras, most of them unpaid. In the commentary track Ken Russell talks about where he found different groups of people. It would be interesting to see them get back together to talk about their reminiscences in making the film, or just to have a big party.

Barry Winch, the actor who plays Tommy as a six-year-old, didn't continue with an acting career. This was his only film. I've read some disturbing things about him. On Facebook he says that he's feeling suicidal after being homeless for two months. I don't know him, I've only seen him as a child, but this makes me sad.

Success Rate:  + 4.9

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