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Review #298 of 365
Film: American Hardcore (2006) [R] 100 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $9.00
Where Viewed: Landmark Mayan, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 4 November 2006
Time: 9:45 p.m.
Film's Official Website
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Directed by: Paul Rachman (Zoe XO)
Written by: Steven Blush
Featured Bands:
Bad Brains • Black Flag • DYS • Flipper • Gang GBreen • Jerry's Kids • MDC • Teen Idles • Zero Boys
Soundtrack: Download now from ![Bad Brains - American Hardcore (The History of American Punk Rock 1980-1986) [With Interactive Booklet]](http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/images/badgeitunes61x15dark.gif){kind=small}
— or — order the CD below
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
With all due respect to the bands featured in the film and the American hardcore punk rock music fans, the Paul Rachman-directed, Steven Blush-written documentary featuring the rise and demise of hardcore punk in the USA simply isn't very engaging. Unlike some of the other really great music-related documentaries of this year including Leonad Cohen I'm Your Man and Crossing the Bridge: The Sounds of Istanbul, to name a couple, American Hardcore really doesn't feature the music itself. There are constant snippets of the music interspersed with dozens and dozens of brief interview questions with some of the, now 'grown up' members of the featured bands, but not even one single, complete piece of music—even though some songs discussed are fewer than sixty-seconds in length. A film about music that doesn’t feature the music will rarely be as authentic or compelling when it comes to establishing the legitimacy or need for the documentary. This film actually features better artwork for the graphical maps illustrating the spread of American Hardcore music across the nation than it does for the music. While this is a huge problem with the film, it is only the beginning of the problems. The film only hints as to the source of the musical movement, it never comes out and just says, "American Hardcore was born in the souls of youth fed up with Reaganomics." You have to be fairly astute to pull this out of it.
"…thorough in its documentation of the simple history and spread of American hardcore punk music, it is far less so when it comes to the real world impact of it."
What a missed opportunity the director had since the political environment in the USA that seem to have spawned this musical movement stand remarkably familiar to today's, a fact that a great many people have likely forgotten since the current politicians have spent a good portion of the past 6 yeas working fervently to convince the masses that the Reagan Era was a vastly superior time in our nations History than the Clinton Era. An analysis by future generations will undoubtedly disagree. This film, however, regardless of the position on the issues taken in the source book, had ripe conditions in which to illustrate three things: (a) when America's youth in the 1960s got fed up with war and political corruption, they acted, (b) when the youth of the early 1980s were fed up with the political corruption and bankrupt ideals of Reaganomics, they acted though in far fewer numbers, and (c) yet today, despite strikingly similar or worse political conditions, they sit in silence seemingly more preoccupied with themselves than with the nation or the world. Gone seem to be the days of the inspirational message of JFK "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Aside from those who have volunteered to serve in the military, where are the youth of today, and why are then not making their voices heard? Or, rather, do they tacitly agree with the current landscape in a way that previous generations of youth could not? This would have made for an incredible three generational case study. Has apathy really reached an all-time high? Do the youth of today feel too disenfranchised to care? Has the USA educational system either created a flock of sheep or taught too little about the principles upon which the USA was founded?
While a lot of the short interviews are evocative, notably those of members of Black Flag stood out, with Keith Morris, for example saying, "I hate my boss, I hate the people that I work with, I hate my parents, I hate authority figures, I hate politicians, I hate people in the government, I hate the police…" illustrating the emotions of a lot of the kids of the time, by and large, the commentary is pretty standard fare. At least twenty minutes could have been edited out without much loss, and again, there needed to be more of the music. Admittedly, I was not a huge Punk Rock fan let alone Hardcore fan, however, in a documentary film, one as to put personal opinions of the subject matter aside and seek, to appreciated the contribution of the art to the larger culture regardless of personal preferences. This film made that a lot easier to do because the snippets of music are so short as to nearly imply that longer segments might have induced neuro-auditory complications in viewers. Ironically, the film ties the end of American hardcore punk music to the re-election of Reagan as if to say, our anger and music got us nowhere, so let's just move on. It doesn't project that apathy any further, however. While the film is thorough in its documentation of the simple history and spread of American hardcore punk music, it is far less so when it comes to the real world impact of it.
While a lot of the short interviews are evocative, notably those of members of Black Flag stood out, with Keith Morris, for example saying, "I hate my boss, I hate the people that I work with, I hate my parents, I hate authority figures, I hate politicians, I hate people in the government, I hate the police…" illustrating the emotions of a lot of the kids of the time, by and large, the commentary is pretty standard fare. At least twenty minutes could have been edited out without much loss, and again, there needed to be more of the music. Admittedly, I was not a huge Punk Rock fan let alone Hardcore fan, however, in a documentary film, one as to put personal opinions of the subject matter aside and seek, to appreciated the contribution of the art to the larger culture regardless of personal preferences. This film made that a lot easier to do because the snippets of music are so short as to nearly imply that longer segments might have induced neuro-auditory complications in viewers. Ironically, the film ties the end of American hardcore punk music to the re-election of Reagan as if to say, our anger and music got us nowhere, so let's just move on. It doesn't project that apathy any further, however. While the film is thorough in its documentation of the simple history and spread of American hardcore punk music, it is far less so when it comes to the real world impact of it.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring
American Hardcore (2006) Bands
Bad Brains
• Black Flag• DYSFlipper
• Gang Green• Jerry's KidsMDC
• Teen Idles• Zero BoysDirector
Paul Rachman
| Book | CD Soundtrack | DVD |
| VHS | Related T-Shirt | Related CD |
American Hardcore (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
With respect to the featured bands and American hardcore punk rock music fans, the Paul Rachman-directed, Steven Blush-written documentary featuring the rise and demise of hardcore punk in the USA simply isn't very engaging. The music isn't featured decreasing the legitimacy. Worse, the film missed out on an opportunity to compare then and current political times for an interesting contrast in the response of then and youth of today potentially converting a biographical sketch into a film capable of real change and purpose. While the short interviews are, sometimes, evocative, notably those of members of Black Flag stood out, the commentary is pretty standard fare. Editing out 20 minutes or so would have helped as well. While the film is thorough in its documentation of the simple history and spread of American hardcore punk music, it is far less so when it comes to the real world impact it had.
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