Quadrophenia

Quadrophenia (1979) is a British drama you can watch online on iFILM. Director Franc Roddam adapted The Who's 1973 concept album and turned it into a raw portrait of early-1960s London youth. Jimmy, played by Phil Daniels, stuffs envelopes in a mail room by day and rides through the city on a tricked-out scooter at night, identity wrapped up entirely in the Mod scene — the suits, the pills, the weekend wars with Rockers on the Brighton seafront.

When a bank holiday riot ends in arrests and Jimmy's heroes turn out to be ordinary men, the whole structure collapses. Roddam keeps the camera close to the street, and the cast around Daniels is worth noting: Ray Winstone, Toyah Willcox, a very young Timothy Spall, and Sting in a brief but memorable role as a Mod who the other lads worship.

What holds the film together is how honestly it treats the gap between a subculture's promise and Monday morning. The Who's songs — "The Real Me," "Bell Boy," "Love Reign O'er Me" — don't play over the top of scenes; they drive them. Stream Quadrophenia (1979) online on iFILM.