Episode 119: Sid and Nancy (1986)

I revisit a film that was a big deal for me when I was 17 or 18 and getting heavily into the Sex Pistols and punk. I was fascinated by the film and blown away by Gary Oldman’s performance. Watching it again more than 35 years later, I still think it’s a very good film, but I see it very differently now. The drugs, addiction and self-destruction are much harder to watch, and I find myself seeing the tragedy of Sid Vicious rather than the mythology that fascinated me when I was younger. Alex Cox, Gary Oldman and Chloë Webb remain the film’s great strengths.