{"id":13215,"date":"2010-11-08T11:12:04","date_gmt":"2010-11-08T18:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=13215"},"modified":"2021-01-21T01:07:04","modified_gmt":"2021-01-21T08:07:04","slug":"decline-of-western-civilization-the-1981","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=13215","title":{"rendered":"Decline of Western Civilization, The (1981)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Nothing else is going on &#8212; it&#8217;s the only form of revolution left.<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Civilization-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Civilization-Poster-199x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-64882\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Civilization-Poster-199x300.png 199w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Civilization-Poster-85x128.png 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Civilization-Poster-179x270.png 179w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Civilization-Poster.png 578w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nPunk bands in Los Angeles &#8212; including <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fear_%28band%29\">Fear<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Germs\">The Germs<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.alicebag.com\/\">Alice Bag Band<\/a>, and more &#8212; channel their aggression and nihilism through music.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Documentary<\/li>\n<li>Musicians<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/allmovie.com\/artist\/penelope-spheeris-112314\">Penelope Spheeris<\/a>&#8216;s feature debut as a writer-director-producer was this insiders&#8217; look at the punk music scene in L.A., mixing raw concert footage with interviews of band members, managers, fans, club owners, and others. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Still.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Still.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-64884\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Still.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Still-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Still-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Still-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A former &#8220;punk&#8221; herself, Spheeris effectively elicits their no-holds-barred thoughts on life, music, drugs, pet tarantulas, haircuts, dead gardeners, and&#8230; Well, you get the point. How interesting you find all of this will ultimately depend upon how intrigued you are either by subcultures in general, and\/or with the punk movement, which we quickly learn is grounded in nihilism, anger, violence, and bigotry &#8212; all on ample display here. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Kill.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Kill.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-64883\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Kill.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Kill-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Kill-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Decline-Western-Kill-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to this documentary, punk fans and musicians seem to live for the moment when they can enter into a club and begin thrashing their emotions on their sleeve, harming others (and themselves) along the way as applicable. While <em>Decline<\/em>&#8230; is worth a look as an erstwhile cult favorite (and for the cultural footage it provides), it&#8217;s not must-see for all film fanatics &#8212; though I do recommend it for one-time viewing. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A valuable time-capsule snapshot of L.A. punk in the early 1980s<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/decline-western-germs.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/decline-western-germs.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13221\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s recommended for one-time viewing. Listed as a Cult Movie and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0082252\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1981\/07\/05\/movies\/miss-spheeris-s-punk-verite.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=3925&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/the-decline-of-western-civilization\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Nothing else is going on &#8212; it&#8217;s the only form of revolution left. Synopsis: Punk bands in Los Angeles &#8212; including Fear, The Germs, Alice Bag Band, and more &#8212; channel their aggression and nihilism through music. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Documentary Musicians Review: Penelope Spheeris&#8216;s feature debut as a writer-director-producer was this insiders&#8217; look at the punk music scene in L.A., mixing raw concert footage with interviews of band members, managers, fans, club owners, and others. A former&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=13215\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13215"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64885,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13215\/revisions\/64885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}