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The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle

1980 · TMDB 6.4

Directed by Julien Temple

A rather incoherent post-breakup Sex Pistols "documentary", told from the point of view of Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, whose (arguable) position is that the Sex Pistols in particular and punk rock in general were an elaborate scam perpetrated by him in order to make "a million pounds."

Why it matters

Julien Temple's chaotic, anti-documentary account of the Sex Pistols' rise and fall, built from the band's own footage and McLaren's provocations. A fractured, unreliable memory of the same scene, told from the inside out.

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