Punk Documentaries
Films about a generation.
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- DirectorLucile ChaufourIn the late 80's, the filmmaker shot with a group of punks who were struggling with the communist regime. 20 years later, she comes back and asks them how do they see life in Hungary before and after the fall of the Berlin wall? Their testimonies help us understand how the market economy has put the Hungarian population in an ambivalent situation. With a liberal left-wing dismantling the socialist heritage and a social right-wing reverting to nationalism, the traditional line between the Right and the Left has been blurred. What remains is an ideological confusion that we all have to face.
- DirectorDon LettsStarsK.K. BarrettRoberta BayleyJello BiafraA documentary on the music, performers, attitude and distinctive look that made up punk rock.
- DirectorLech KowalskiStarsStiv BatorsTerry ChimesThe ClashDocumentary chronicaling the rise and fall of the punk movement with rare interview footage of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. Also concert and news footage.
- DirectorPenelope SpheerisStarsEugene TatuAlice Bag BandBlack FlagA look into the Los Angeles punk rock scene, that was largely ignored by the rock music press of the time.
- DirectorPenelope SpheerisStarsFleaKeith MorrisEyeballThe Decline of Western Civilization III is a 1998 documentary film that follows the gutter punk lifestyle of homeless teenagers.
- DirectorTed HaimesStarsBonoDavid BowieGerald Casale'Punk' Strips Music To Its Angry Roots BYLINE: EDWARD GUTHMANN, Chronicle Staff Critic 4 Star Rating PUNK: Documentary. With Johnny Rotten, Iggy Pop, Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend, Chrissie Hynde, Joe Strummer and Joey Ramone. Directed, Written and Produced by Ted Haimes. (Not rated. 68 minutes. At the Red Vic Movie House through June 18.) ------------------------------------------------------------- If you thought you'd heard the last word on punk, or believed -- as I did -- that Penelope Spheeris' 1981 film ''The Decline of Western Civilization'' was the definitive punk documentary, you were wrong. Say hello to ''Punk'' , a smart, bracing, thoroughly enjoyable film that recalls the punk movement in England and the United States, pinpoints its roots and legacy, and interviews all the players who defined the genre. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols is on board, along with Joe Strummer of the Clash, Elvis Costello (who says he never identified with punk), Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, Joey Ramone of the Ramones and Malcolm McLaren, the effete London haberdasher who created the Sex Pistols. Unlike ''The Decline of Western Civilization,'' which offered an insider's look at the L.A. punk culture at the time it was happening and was followed by a 1988 sequel, ''Punk'' benefits from hindsight -- from a wisdom and insight that weren't possible when mosh pits, body slams and screaming bloody outrage were still cutting-edge. ''It was a great time because it was so spontaneous and pure,'' says wraithlike poet Patti Smith, whose mid-'70s success slightly predated punk. Adds John Doe of the Los Angeles band X: ''It was reclaiming rock 'n' roll to a simple message -- and wasn't a big, bloated, corporate, limousine, cocaine- ridden bunch of s--.'' Directed and written by Ted Haimes, and executive-produced by Quincy Jones and Andrew Solt (''This Is Elvis,'' ''Imagine''), ''Punk'' benefits from an amazing trove of film clips -- Costello's first TV appearance, David Byrne and the Talking Heads in 1975 -- and wisely lets the material speak for itself instead of imposing an overlay of critical analysis. The participants do the interpreting in ''Punk,'' whether it's Bono of U2 praising Smith for her blend of the profane and the sacred; Strummer admitting that the Clash ripped off its sound, as did most Brit punk bands, from the Ramones; or guitarist Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols recalling, ''I couldn't play and Johnny Rotten couldn't sing and it created this horrible noise.'' Horrible noise, perhaps, but the energy and fury that fueled it were inescapable and demanded a voice. Once that rage was diluted and turned into New Wave, Rotten argues, the whole point of punk was destroyed. ''(New Wave) was a complete corruption of everything,'' he says. ''Everybody tried to be nice all over again. Don't be nice; it's the kiss of death.'' We also learn that the Sex Pistols modeled their anarchistic, screw-off style after the glam-rock New York Dolls. Contrary to the standard media perception, ''Punk'' insists, the movement wasn't born in Britain but had its antecedents in such American performers as Iggy Pop, MC5 and the Velvet Underground and actually took form at CBGB, a dumpy biker bar in Manhattan's Bowery. ''Punk'' also demonstrates how the grunge rock of the early '90s -- Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Green Day -- can be directly traced to the punk stylists of the '70s. So much for the notion that punk was a brief aberration that existed in a vacuum -- something that ended with Sid Vicious' death rattle. ''Punk'' celebrates the blasting energy of its subject, but also demonstrates the costs of unbridled rage and self-abuse. When Kurt Cobain died at 27, Iggy Pop says, ''it brought home to me, as many things have in my maturity, that this is a dangerous business -- dangerous for the practitioners.''
- DirectorSusan DynnerStarsCraig AaronsonColin AbrahallAdriOn the edge of the 30th anniversary of punk rock, Punk's Not Dead takes you into the sweaty underground clubs, backyard parties, recording studios, and yes, shopping malls and stadium shows where punk rock music and culture continue to thrive. Thirty years after bands like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols infamously shocked the system with their hard, fast, status-quo-killing rock, the longest-running punk band in history is drawing bigger crowds than ever, "pop-punk" bands have found success on MTV, and kids too young to drive are forming bands that carry the torch for punk's raw, immediate sound. Meanwhile, "punk" has become a marketing concept to sell everything from cars to vodka, and dyed hair and piercings mark a rite of passage for thousands of kids. Can the true, nonconformist punk spirit still exist in today's corporatized culture? Featuring interviews, performances, and behind-the-scenes journeys with the bands, labels, fans, and press who keep punk alive, Punk's Not Dead dares to juxtapose pop-punk's music and lifestyle against the roots in the 70s and 80s, resulting in unexpected revelations. A DIY search for the soul of a subculture and a celebration of all things loud, fast, and spiked, Punk's Not Dead shows punk is stronger and more relevant today than it's ever been.
- DirectorPaul RachmanStarsGreg GinnIan MacKayeJames DrescherThe History of American Punk Rock 1980-1986
- DirectorDerek BurbidgeStarsWall of VoodooStan RidgwayMarc MorelandLive performances from dozens of leading early-1980s musical acts - rock, punk, ska, reggae - it's all here.
- DirectorAdam SmallPeter StuartStarsM. Otis BeardDennis DanellBrent LilesA documentary following the 1982 tour of punk bands Youth Brigade and Social Distortion.
- DirectorTodd PhillipsStarsGG AllinMerle AllinBrian Unk HunterDocumentary about notorious punk rock performer GG Allin.
- DirectorAndreas GeigerStarsOliver BarthJulia FinkbeinerMoritz FinkbeinerFollowing Swabian punk band "Cluster Bomb Unit" on their 2005 Indonesian tour, this documentary carefully portraits the young but ever-growing Indonesian underground punk scene and delivers insights into a subculture organizing itself at the utmost periphery of international economics.
- DirectorJulien TempleStarsPaul CookSteve JonesJohn LydonA film about the career of the notorious punk rock band, the Sex Pistols.
- DirectorDon LettsStarsSoo CatwomanSteve StrangeRobin BanksDocumentary on the London punk-rock scene, circa '78.
- DirectorJim FieldsMichael GramagliaStarsRick RubinTommy RamoneDee Dee RamoneThe story of the punk rock band The Ramones.
- DirectorJulien TempleStarsJoe StrummerSteve JonesMick JonesAs the front man of the Clash from 1977, Joe Strummer changed people's lives forever. Four years after his death, his influence reaches out around the world, more strongly now than ever before.
- DirectorAJ SchnackStarsKurt CobainEvan FortinNathan StreifelIn this visual essay style documentary, intimate audio of journalist Michael Azerrad's interviews with Kurt Cobain is played over more recently photographed footage of Cobain's Washington state homes and haunts.
- DirectorDon LettsStarsTerry ChimesTerence DackombeTopper HeadonA career retrospective of British punk band The Clash, featuring exclusive interviews with the entire band.
- DirectorJukka KärkkäinenJ-P PassiStarsPertti KurikkaKari AaltoSami HelleA Finnish punk-rock band formed by four mentally disabled guys.
- DirectorDavid MarkeyStarsDez CadenaChuck DukowskiGreg HetsonA raw and unparalleled DIY documentary about the West Coast Punk scene made by a group of young fans/filmmakers about the bands they loved.
- DirectorScott CraryStarsRon AlbertsonAngus AndrewTristan BechetNYC's no wave movement of the 1970s and the art punk revival that happened there 30 years later frame a discussion about the crisis of innovation in an age of commodified nostalgia.
- DirectorGrant GeeStarsRichard BoonAnton CorbijnKevin CumminsA chronological account of the influential late 1970s English rock band.
- DirectorOmar MajeedStarsRiz AhmedArieb AzhurAmmar AzizThe word Taqwacore is a combination of hardcore, a genre of punk music, and taqwa, an Arabic word that translates as "piety" or "god-fearing." The first to use the term was writer, journalist, and Muslim convert Michael Muhammad Knight. His novel The Taqwacores, about a group of young Islamic punk rockers, received a storm of recognition among young American Muslims and prompted the formation of various Muslim punk bands.
- DirectorFrank PavichStarsTim CohenFreddy CricienVic Di Cara