Punk: Attitude (2005) (TV)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Don Letts

Writer:

Don Letts (writer)

Release Date:

4 July 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Music | Documentary

Plot:

A documentary on the music, performers, attitude and distinctive look that made up punk rock.

Plot Keywords:

Punk | Punk Rock | Musician | Band | Interview

Cast

K.K. Barrett	...	Himself
Roberta Bayley	...	Herself
Jello Biafra	...	Himself
Glenn Branca	...	Musician, Composer
Bob Gruen	...	Himself
Mary Harron	...	Herself
John Holmstrom	...	Himself
Chrissie Hynde	...	Herself
Jim Jarmusch	...	Himself
Darryl Jenifer	...	Himself
David Johansen	...	Himself
Mick Jones	...	Himself
Wayne Kramer	...	Himself
Glen Matlock	...	Himself
Legs McNeil	...	Himself
Thurston Moore	...	Himself
Tommy Ramone	...	Himself
Henry Rollins	...	Himself
Captain Sensible	...	Himself
Paul Simonon	...	Himself
Siouxsie Sioux	...	Herself
Pat Smear	...	Himself
Poly Styrene	...	Herself
Ari Up	...	Herself

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:MA | Finland:K-3

Company:

3DD Productions

Quotes:

Jello Biafra: By the end of say, oh maybe mid-'79, the only people playing punk music left were the people who really wanted to be there. And so there was this big split, which meant punk went more underground, and got more intense, more purist in a way, which is both good and bad, and more hardcore.

This review is punk. (reccomend it)

Yeaaaars ago, at the Vancouver International Film Festival, I saw a movie there called 'Hype!' which was all about the rise and fall of grunge music. It was loud, it was informative, and it was great, it was my favorite movie that year in the film festival. For some odd reason, I'm always interested in music docs (except maybe classical and Jazz (though that's sometimes not true)), and I've been searching for some time for a movie like Hype! ('The Filth and The Fury" was, to me, disappointing), and this year at the VIFF, there was a movie called Punk Attitude which looked great, had all the icons, from Henry Rollins to Chrissy Hyde, so how could I go wrong? Punk Attitude essentially follows Hyped's narrative path, following the history of Punk from it's early years (the filmmakers contend, and I agree, that Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry were 50's punk) in the US, the British Invasion (namely The Sex Pistols) and then back into the U.S. Much of this stuff I didn't know, as I really don't follow punk that much, so all of this was really new to me, and nearly all of it was fascinating. Was really interested in the history of the New York Dolls and the Stooges, bands I'd had heard about, but that's about it. (Watch for a hideous looking David Johansen in this by the way). Rollins is great as usual, with plenty to say. Actually, everyone in this doc seems quite passionate about Punk's place in history. Funny how in the present, Punk is now represented by such artists as Green Day and Blink-182, artists that don't appear in the film at all. Wonder if this in part with the studio labels now taking Punk into the radio mainstream and of course with it, copyrights, copyrights, copyrights. Good thing Rollins is still there to cause noise. So, is this better then 'hyped'? You know, the one big problem I have with this, is that I wish 'Punk Attitude was on film, rather then on video. On video, it seems to take back it's rawness and it's urgentness. If it was on film, it would be, well, punk.