Every generation seems to have at least one film which interweaves footage of a band with a connected narrative. Some, like the Beatles's Hard Day Night (1964) and Slade’s Flame (1975) gained various degrees of success. For Rude Boy (1980. 2 hrs, 12 min, 50 sec), a film which combines live footage of the Clash, Ray Gange's script went for a pseudo documentary approach, telling the story of Ray, a disaffected and directionless young man who, for a brief period of time gets a job as a roadie with the band. The script is attributed to Gange as well as the primary film makers as he was often just given a loose outline of the scene and had to make his own lines up.

You can also opt just to watch the Clash footage, if the film does not appeal, which gives you access to all the twenty-eight songs, but no ability to play them all sequentially. The audio tracks on offer are either DD 2.0 or 5.1.

The film was directed by Jack Hazan and David Mingay, who co wrote the script with Gange, in the two years prior to its release.

It’s difficult to know what the film was trying to portray, if they were going for the decline of disillusioned youth, then this had been done much more effectively in The Who’s Quadrophenia (1979), the politics are to the left, but the film fails to make any coherent argument for them.

The film introduces us to Gange, young, white and directionless. Britain is going through a time of transformation and it isn’t a good one. The rise of the National Front is met with the rise of left wing organisations. Both offer radical, if polarised, points of view about the creation of a multicultural society. There are riots on the streets and casual racism from the police.

Gange works in a porn shop, selling magazines to clients who are always asking for something a little bit harder. He dreams of being rich and powerful but has no idea how to get there. Slowly, through the film, his experiences drive him towards the bottle and far right politics.

The main problem with this aspect of the film is that it is difficult to see Gange’s slow decline from disillusionment to full melt down without experiencing similar feelings as the audience. Gange is not likable, probably the biggest mistake the film made. He’s ignorant of the politics of the time and is only eloquent when swearing, which he does repetitively. I guess the Clash felt the same about the finished film as they wanted only the footage of them playing to be released, when this was refused they had pins made up.

On the good side, the film contains some of the best footage of the Clash playing liveish, I say this as some of the sound was dubbed on afterwards. This never bothers me as it gives you the best sound possible. Here you see the power of the band as a live act, although when they are interacting with the actors they sometimes seem a bit awkward, which is fair enough.

The film is released as a two disc DVD set. The first disc contains the film in its entirety, with the Clash’s preferred option, the ability to just watch the band and cut out the movie completely. The disc also has a commentary by producer/directors Mingay and Hazan.

Disc two has a generous amount of extras, especially considering the film's age. You get an Interview with Ray Gange (Rude Boy) (15 min, 35 sec) where he discusses how he became involved in the film and his initial reluctance once the film began and felt the whole process was chaotic.

Interview with Clash road manager Johnny Green (15 min, 23 sec) talk about working with the Clash, as well as his own recollections of the film. Interview with Jack Hazan, who explains how they were trying to move their documentary experience to a more narrative driven film. Interview with David Mingay, like Hazan he appears to have nothing but fond memories of the film,

You also get two bonus live tracks, White Riot (1978. 3 min, 25 sec) and English Civil War (1979. 2 min, 39 sec), included are four deleted scenes, the theatrical trailer (1 min, 18 sec) and a radio advert (32 sec).

Clash Discography with original sleeve art work, which gives the original release date and information about who produced it and how successful it became. You get a Clash Image Gallery (5 min, 54 sec) a self-running slide show, which is half and half the Clash and the film.

The Clash Live in Munich (19 min, 18 sec), containing seven songs and backstage interviews, the sound is a bit muddy and the picture watchable, but grainy, but till a nice addition.

Like football this is a game of two halves, on the one hand you get probably the best footage of the Clash in their heyday, unfortunately it is married to a narrative which is neither attractive nor successful.

6

Charles Packer