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The Decline of Western Civilization

The Decline of Western Civilization

  • Status: Released
  • 01-07-1981
  • Runtime: 100 min
  • Score: 7.162
  • Vote count: 102

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

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.