| 23rd September 2006 07:31 AM |
|
|
| Ten Thousand Motels |
MOVIE REVIEW | 'AMERICAN HARDCORE'MORE ON 'American Hardcore'It Was Loud. It Was Fast. But What Did It Mean?
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: September 21, 2006
NYT
It was a guy thing: rampant testosterone; fistfights and epithets; incendiary, harmonically minimal rock as hard, loud and fast as cheap guitars could play it, made by young musicians wanting to blow up the world with noise and attitude.
As some remember it the movement, which sprouted an informal network of local bands around the country, was a spontaneous expression of disgust by an alienated fringe with the ascendance of Ronald Reagan, along with all things preppy. The movie names Southern California as the site of hardcore’s birth, and regards New York as a latecomer to the party.
Musically hardcore was a repudiation of almost everything, from disco to the dilution of first-generation punk labeled new wave to, of course, the same high-flying and deeply loathed bands, like the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and Journey, that the original punks also despised. Hardcore was more than noncommercial; it was anticommercial. No one in the movement made more than spare change, and many lived hand to mouth. Poverty was synonymous with purism.
Directed by Paul Rachman, from a screenplay by Steven Blush based on his book “American Hardcore: A Tribal History,” the film, which is filled with grainy archival clips of hardcore performances, is a toned-down cinematic equivalent of the music: fast and loud, but not too loud. The movie scrambles to cover so much territory that there is room only for musical shards and slivers; few complete songs are heard, and no signature anthems stand out. These excerpts are spliced with pungent bits and pieces from dozens of interviews, the whole crisply edited into a rapid-fire history. If 9 out of 10 bands are groups almost no one ever heard of, the movie’s encyclopedic concept is touchingly thorough.
As the story advances both chronologically and geographically, it moves from Los Angeles to Boston, then up and down the East Coast, with trips back west and a quick jaunt to Canada. Leading the roster are Bad Brains, referred to in tones of reverence, and Black Flag, whose tattooed hunk of a lead singer, Henry Rollins, became the closest thing to a star minted by hardcore.
The documentary might benefit from a broader perspective. The luminaries of punk’s first generation, the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Ramones, are barely mentioned. Despite passing references to the Beastie Boys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, those who came after are only glancingly acknowledged. Maybe that’s for the best, since the way the movie tells it, hardcore was its own thing, defiantly glowering in a corner by itself.
The portraits of these rockers, now middle-aged, speak for themselves. As nostalgic as they are for their lost bohemia of fury and dissent, they acknowledge that the hardcore lifestyle has a very short shelf life. But political change also counted; the Reagan re-election landslide is remembered as the final demoralizing blow.
The movie makes a feeble effort to show that women were welcome in the movement. But of the several women interviewed, only Kira Roessler, the bassist for Black Flag, actually played in a band. And she remembers an offensive Black Flag album cover that forced her to question her role. It really was a guy thing.
“American Hardcore” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) for profanity.
AMERICAN HARDCORE
Opens tomorrow in Manhattan.
Directed and edited by Paul Rachman; written by Steven Blush, based on his book “American Hardcore: A Tribal History”; director of photography, Mr. Rachman; produced by Mr. Blush and Mr. Rachman; released by Sony Pictures Classics. Running time: 98 minutes.
|
| 23rd September 2006 08:40 AM |
|
|
| Phog |
I read the book a few years ago. It was good. I've got high hopes for this movie. |
| 23rd September 2006 02:26 PM |
|
|
| mojoman |
thought this was a porn thread. lol!!! |
|
