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The Decline of Western Civilization

The Decline of Western Civilization

  • Status: Released
  • 01-07-1981
  • Runtime: 100 min
  • Score: 7.131
  • Vote count: 111

The Los Angeles punk music scene circa 1980 is the focus of this film. With Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Circle Jerks, Fear, Germs, and X.

Eugene Tatu

Self

Alice Bag

Self

Claude Bessy

Self

Dinah Cancer

Self

Exene Cervenka

Self

Lorna Doom

Self

Darby Crash

Self

Don Bolles

Self

Philo Cramer

Self

John Doe

Self

Lee Ving

Self

Greg Ginn

Self

Chuck Dukowski

Self

Ron Reyes

Self

Pat Smear

Self

Greg Hetson

Self

Keith Morris

Self

Nicole Panter

Self

Penelope Spheeris

Self

D.J. Bonebrake

Self

Rick Schmidlin

Self

Spit Stix

Self

Derf Scratch

Self

Mac Neely

Self - Manager - Club 88

Rob Ritter

Self - Alice Bag Band (Guitar)

Terry Graham

Self - Alice Bag Band (Drums)

Kenny DaSilva

Self - Light Bulb Kid

Malissa Hutton

Self - Light Bulb Kid

Roger Rogerson

Self - Circle Jerks (Bass)

Lucky Lehrer

Self - Circle Jerks (Drums)

Dutch Michaels

Self - Bouncer

Milt Wilson

Self - Concert Promoter

Gary Hirstius

Self - Sound Man

Billy Zoom

Self - X (Guitar)

Top Jimmy

Self

Rick Brodey

Self - Catholic Discipline (Bass)

Craig Lee

Self - Catholic Discipline (Drums) / Alice Bag Band (Guitar)

Phranc

Self - Catholic Discipline (Guitar)

Robert 'El Vez' Lopez

Self - Catholic Discipline (Keyboards)

Steve Samiof

Self - Publisher - Slash Magazine

Chris D.

Self - Contributing Writer - Slash Magazine

Philomena Winstanley

Self - Editor - Slash Magazine

Bob Biggs

Self - Publisher - Slash Magazine

Michelle Baer Ghaffari

Self - Darby Crash's Roommate

Robo

Self - Black Flag (Drums)

Brendan Mullen

Self - Owner - Masque

Wayne Mayotte

Self - Owner - Club 88

talisencrw

Though I both am neither a punk aficionado (I have seen X live in Detroit in 2008) nor an expert on Spheeris' films (I have seen and enjoyed both 'Wayne's World' and 'Little Rascals'), this was very satisfying. The energy and spirit of these rebellious youths really comes across well, and the clever assertion from one of the interviewees that punk is simply another form of folk and protest music, albeit with different instruments and at a faster speed, rings true. Though I'm not privy to the Los Angeles scene (I'm from Windsor, Ontario, for crying out loud), it appears to be quite an accurate depiction, although it doesn't seem to grab hold, perhaps, of the underground movement. Seeing this, I look forward to the latter two parts of the trilogy, and only wish over the years that Spheeris had expanded her sights, and made documentaries of other, vital, forms of music in L.A., such as folk, hip-hop, rap, jazz, classical, experimental, even soundtrack work for films, since Hollywood is right nearby, and as someone already part of the filmmaking scene, she would have had access to some of the greats of our time.