Filth and the Fury, The

Director Julien Temple presents a follow-up to The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, his 1980 documentary about the Sex Pistols, this time bringing along the increased perspective that 20 years can offer. Temple augments interviews with the surviving band members (all in silhouette, as though they were in the Witness Protection Program) with archival footage, including a long-forgotten interview Temple filmed with Sid Vicious before Vicious’ 1979 death. Temple’s jolting, mercurial, free-form documentary follows the Pistols’ career from its formation out of the combustible frustrations of being young and hopeless in 1970s England, through its pugnacious taunting of the establishment, to the squalid meltdown while touring the United States and provides a robust eulogy for the band’s anger, energy and humor.