By Keith Walsh
The Hulu and FX spectacle Pistol dramatizes the story of British band The Sex Pistols as they unleash their song “God Save The Queen” on Britain in 1977, in the Jubilee year of Queen Elizabeth. The single, with the line “she ain’t no human being” embodies all the lack of taste of the band, and reached number one on the British charts, despite being banned by the BBC.
Focusing on the journey of Steve Jones, who started the band that became the Sex Pistols with Paul Cook and Glen Matlock, Pistol is directed by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire). Based on the 2017 memoir Lonely Boy by Jones,Pistol is an engaging drama with lots of soap opera elements. It’s also a definitely NSFW production that by all appearances hews close to the truth of the controversial band, who released one album, Never Mind The Bollocks — Here’s The Sex Pistols, only to fall apart as if by design.
Casting for Pistol is brilliant, as the portrayals capture the essence of the characters. Thomas Brodie-Sangster as McClaren is an over the top, unprincipled entrepreneur obsessed with creating a sensation. Toby Wallace is immediately likeable as the charming rascal Steve Jones, who started it all. Anson Boon as Johnny Rotten nails the role of the brilliant outsider who finds his voice as a frontman. Louis Partridge as Sid is too perfect — he’s far more likeable than the lost soul he portrays. When he goes completely off the rails in episode six, depicting the band’s US tour in 1978, the result is terrifying. Jacob Slater as Paul Cook and Christian Lees as Glen Matlock do good work as the sidemen for the band.
The film brings the subjects close, with outstanding character development. Tender moments between the characters, particularly between Wallace and Partridge as Jones and Vicious, and between Jones and Chrissie Hynde (Sydney Chandler) are particularly moving. And when the band shows off their first single “God Save The Queen” to the parents of Lydon (Johnny Rotten), it’s both touching and hilarious.
The six-episode production makes excellent use of vintage video and film, putting the drama in context and effectively demonstrating the backdrop against which McClaren and The Sex Pistols appeared. The middle class mediocrity of Britain of the 1970s is on full display, as is the chaos the Sex Pistols created.
Shock Value
McClaren and his gang set out to create a sensation, with his girlfriend Vivienne Westwood’s clothing boutique “Sex” and with the band. And though the movement’s tactics more often than not lacked class and good taste, that was the point. Shock value and situationist moves were designed to change not just music and fashion but to create an uproar through youth revolution. Whether the Sex Pistols changed anything other than music and fashion is a question for debate, but in Boyle’s hands the story makes for compelling entertainment. The series pulls no punches, and Pistol seems designed to shock in the same way the Sex Pistols did, though in an age where shock value has lost its impact, sadly.
The soundtrack of Pistol is a triumph in itself, featuring tracks from Bowie to the Buzzcocks. That the production was able to get licensing to so many classic tracks and footage is quite an achievement. The reproductions of the Sex Pistol’s tracks are somehow less grating on the ear, with the same raw sounds enhanced by superior engineering and performances. And the way that the story and the songs of Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders, who rose from the ashes of the Pistols, are intertwined with the story is touching and poignant.
At the conclusion, I was left with an admiration for Lydon aka Rotten, as a gifted lyricist and charismatic showman. Even as McClaren performed his last stunt without Lydon, the film The Great Rock And Roll Swindle, one sees that Lydon has a bright future ahead of him without the band. Lydon would prove himself an enduring presence with PiL and beyond.
Pistol on IMDB
Red Band Trailer For “Pistol”
The Sex Pistols On Punk Rock Beat Dot Com
Sex Pistols Official YouTube
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