Sid and Nancy | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Alex Cox |
Produced by | Eric Fellner |
Written by |
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Starring | |
Music by | |
Cinematography | Roger Deakins |
Edited by | David Martin |
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Running time
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114 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | $4 million |
Box office | $2.8 million |
Sid and Nancy (also known as Sid and Nancy: Love Kills) is a 1986 British biopic directed by Alex Cox and co-written with Abbe Wool. The film portrays the life of Sid Vicious (Gary Oldman), bassist of the seminal punk rock band the Sex Pistols, and his relationship with girlfriend Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb). The film also features supporting performances from David Hayman, Xander Berkeley, and Courtney Love.
The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986, and was released theatrically in the United States that fall. Despite failing to recoup its production budget at the box office, the film was received favourably by most critics and has attained cult classic status.
The film opens on 12 October 1978, with several police officers dragging Sid Vicious (Gary Oldman) out of the Hotel Chelsea following the death of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb). Sid is soon driven to a police station and upon arrival is asked to describe what happened. Police officers become frustrated when Sid is visibly troubled and unable to speak.
A little more than a year earlier, in 1977, close friends and band members Sid and Johnny Rotten (Andrew Schofield) meet Nancy, a heroin-addicted groupie who had come to London to bed the Sex Pistols. Sid dismisses her at first, as her sexual intentions are obvious, but begins dating her after feeling sympathy for the rejection she faces from fellow punk stars and after she sells him heroin; it is implied that she introduces him to the drug. The two fall deeply in love, but their self-destructive, drug-fueled relationship frays Sid's relationship with the rest of the band, which eventually breaks up on 17 January 1978, in the midst of a disastrous American tour which features Sid strung out of his mind, often drunk or on meth, and physically violent. Although several of his friends and acquaintances warn him of Nancy's devastating effect on his life, Sid stubbornly ignores these warnings.