THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION Part 1 1981
The Punk Years
Documentary
101 minutes
Pro Shot
Centered on the early '80s punk movement, this remains the best of
Penelope Spheeris's three attempts to chronicle the musical and angst-ridden
subculture of urban Los Angeles. The film's style, like the music, is abrasive,
frank, and packed with energy, as it moves swiftly from hilarious band and fan
interviews to the loud, raucous shows inside seedy L.A. nightclubs. Despite its
tongue-in-cheek title, Spheeris neither condemns, nor glamorizes, the movement,
though she definitely has an eye for talent and thankfully plays favorites. Lesser
acts like Alice Bag Band and Catholic Discipline are given minimal screen time
(enough so we understand why they've been forgotten) in favor of bands that
either possess off- stage charisma (Circle Jerks) or onstage potency (Fear's finale,
winding their audience up with insults, is punk in its purest form). And, then
there are X and Germs lead singer, Darby Crash. These two subjects comprise
the majority of the film, as Spheeris hangs around their houses, captures numerous
performances, and presents the movement's peak performers. While X does it
mostly onstage--their mix of thrash and rockabilly are the most enjoyable of the
live performances--Crash's stage is everywhere. A walking disaster, the singer
candidly details--with simultaneously self-mocking humor and sadness--his drug
abuse, miserable life, and the places that no longer let him play. The fact that he
died shortly after production stamps Spheeris's brazen time capsule with a morbid,
though appropriate, epitaph.