Quadrophenia is a 1979 British drama film, loosely based on The Who's 1973 rock opera of the same name. It was directed by Franc Roddam in his feature directing début. Unlike the adaptation of Tommy, Quadrophenia is not a musical film, and the band does not appear live in the film. The film is set in London in 1964, a time when the working class youth broadly aligned themselves with one of two factions, who frequently fought each other. The Mods wore sharp suits, listened to current pop and soul music, took amphetamines, and rode scooters. Rockers rode powerful British motorcycles such as Triumph and BSA, wore black leather jackets and listened to 1950s rock'n'roll. The film stars Phil Daniels as Jimmy, a young mod who escapes from his dead-end job as a mailroom boy by dancing, partying, taking amphetamines, riding his scooter and brawling with Rockers. After he and his friends participate in a huge brawl with the Rockers at the seaside town of Brighton, he is arrested and his life starts to spiral out of control; he loses his love interest (Leslie Ash), gets kicked out of his house by his parents, and discovers that his idol, the popular mod nicknamed "Ace Face" (Sting), is actually a bellboy at a hotel. Plot In 1964, young London Mod Jimmy Cooper (Phil Daniels), disillusioned with his parents and a dull job as a post room boy in an advertising firm, vents his teenage angst by taking amphetamines, partying, riding scooters and brawling with Rockers, accompanied by his Mod friends Dave (Mark Wingett), Chalky (Philip Davis) and Spider (Gary Shail). An attack by hostile Rockers on Spider leads to a retaliatory attack on Jimmy's childhood friend Kevin (Ray Winstone), one of the rival Rockers. Jimmy initially participates, but upon realising the victim is Kevin, he berates the other attackers but does not stop them, instead riding away on his scooter revving his engine loudly in frustration. A planned bank holiday weekend away provides the excuse for the rivalry between Mods and Rockers to escalate, as both groups descend upon the seaside town of Brighton. Jimmy plans to be noticed as a 'face', and hints to Steph (Leslie Ash) – a girl on whom he has a crush – that he would like her to ride with him, but she confirms plans to ride instead with Pete (Garry Cooper), an older, well-heeled