The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)

Director:

Penelope Spheeris

Writer:

Penelope Spheeris (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | History | Music

Plot:

The Los Angeles punk music scene circa 1980 is the focus of this film. With Alice Bag Band, Black Flag...

Plot Keywords:

Punk | Los Angeles | Band | Nihilism | Swastika

Cast

Alice Bag Band	...	Themselves
Alice Bag	...	Lead Singer, The Alice Bag Band
Claude Bessey	...	Catholic Discipline / Vocalist
Black Flag	...	Themselves
Don Bolles	...	Drummer, The Germs
Exene Cervenka	...	'X' - vocals
Circle Jerks	...	Themselves
Philo Cramer	...	Fear Guitar
Darby Crash	...	Lead Singer, The Germs
John Doe	...	'X' - vocals, bassist
Lorna Doom	...	Bassist, The Germs
Fear	...	Themselves
Frank Gargani	...	Appears as Himself
Bill Gazzarri	...	Himself
The Germs	...	Themselves
Michelle Baer Ghaffari	...	Herself
Greg Ginn	...	Black Flag / Guitarist
Greg Hetson	...	Himself / Circle Jerks Guitarist
Craig Lee	...	Guitarist, The Alice Bag Band
Lucky Lehrer	...	Himself
Jenny Lens
Keith Morris	...	The Circle Jerks member
Nicole Panter	...	Nicole - Germs Manager
Phranc	...	Catholic Discipline / Guitarist
Ron Reyes	...	Black Flag / Vocalist
Roger Rogerson	...	Himself
Rick Schmidlin	...	Appears as himself
Derf Scratch	...	Bass player for Fear
Pat Smear	...	Guitarist, The Germs
Lee Ving	...	'Fear' vocals / guitar
X.	...	Themselves
Billy Zoom	...	Himself

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Company:

Spheeris Films Inc.

Trivia:

After the film was screened in Los Angeles, punk music fans got into so many fights and caused so much trouble that then-L.A. Police Chief Daryl Gates wrote the filmmakers a letter asking them not to screen the film again.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Prey for Rock & Roll (2003)

Soundtrack:

Manimal

A good documentary

Here is a great movie. Now, first of all, I would like to say that I was born in the early 1980s. I really never knew, up-close and personal, what true punk rock was. Watching this film was like a history lesson of sorts. The music was great, good vintage rock n' roll from bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, X, etc. It seemed to me that with this film, Penelope Spheeris was trying to show people that these weren't all just stupid kids who were out to do drugs and kill people. Some of these punks really had some philosophies that they were working at behind their music. This seems most evident in the interview with Black Flag. I understand myself how a lot of people might view these bands' philosophies as under-developed and simple, but one must take into account that these were some pretty young people. Nowadays, as young as I still am, I find it refreshing to run into someone my age who understands in any way philosophical thinking. In this movie, the young people may seem a little half-baked in their philosophies, but you might keep in mind that most kids don't even get that far. I've met many full-grown adults who have not progressed as far with deep thought contexts as some of the punk musicians in "Decline". Another thing I loved about this movie was how funny it got at times. Some of these kids were total idiots, while the story about the dead painter was devilishly humorous. Fear's performance at the end topped it all. Even if punk is dead, it was once very alive. All flaws aside, "The Decline of Western Civilization" was made for people who can tell the difference between some suburban wimp with a mohawk and the truly intelligent individuals who were genuinely upset and picked up music instruments as weapons against the forces of the corporate.