Once a Mod, always a Mod, so the mantra goes for the early 1960s generation – and the generation who aspire to be like them in the 1980s, like so many of the latter and beyond who loved Franc Roddam’s QUADROPHENIA (1979) and religiously listened to the album, as well as hanging out at a local cafe that prided itself on being the in-place to drink coffee, for the relatively short time it was around.
In writer/director Chris Green’s new coming-of-age nostalgia drama THE PEBBLE AND THE BOY, Manchunian John Parker (Patrick McNamee) is discovering the death of his father has left a major void in his life, not just in terms of the absent bond building, but also the legacy and memories his dad left behind. An old vintage Lambretta scooter and a roomful of memorabilia from the very first Mod revival in the early 1980s at the height of Thatcherism taunts a lot with little revelation as John tries to move forward.
John’s wish is to take the scooter and his father’s ashes on a nostalgia trip to Brighton, much against the wishes of his mother and stepfather, warning him that the bike may not have the stamina of what it had when his father rode it, but John is a determined soul. When it breaks down in Stoke, his mother rings a friend who takes John in, where he meets the rebellious daughter, Nicki (Sacha Parkinson), who discovers a couple of tickets to a Paul Weller concert – and ropes John into a scooter ride down to Brighton.
The tickets are merely a tease for major discoveries about John’s own feelings about his father, coupled with a few hard truths about the history and mystery of what it means to be a true Mod….
Here, the influence and power of QUADROPHENIA and Paul Weller is everywhere in THE PEBBLE AND THE BOY (indeed, Paul and Nicky Weller are credited in the film, with generous donations from the Jam exhibition), but the film is much more than a mere homage to those points of reference which taps into the same kind of adolescent spirit that defined the likes of AMERICAN GRAFFITI and John Hughes classics.
The memories of the intense rivalries between the Mods and Rockers, coupled with much misunderstanding and misinterpretation by a protagonist who is as detached about the concept, heighten modern coming-of-age perceptiveness in a film that subverts expectations at times and might even reawaken the legacy and memories of those who were teenagers back in the early 1980s.
There is little doubt that QUADROPHENIA may well be ripe for another reissue in cinemas four decades on. In the meantime, check out this enjoyable companion piece, with good energy and a great soundtrack.
THE PEBBLE AND THE BOY is in cinemas from August 27th, 2021.
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