THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION

Spheeris is a remarkable documentarian, which is a far more appropriate title with these films than "filmmaker". The technical skill of the three films is secondary to the conviction and dedication to the subjects - they are neither glorifying or damning, but instead celebratory of everything that comes with them. What she films is spontaneous and immediate, especially because the people that populate her frames could do anything at any second. The first film, gritty and fiercely independent, begins with brawling moments of violence while bands like Black Flag pour their ecstatic vitriol into their music. In all three films, the subjects are both defiant of the existence of the camera and totally embracing of it, not holding anything back. As the three films progress, Spheeris’ interests morphs from the music to the people, so the most engaging material becomes the interviews themselves, whether it be icons like Steve Tyler or Alice Cooper, or kids living on the streets, their days defined by the opening and closing times of liquor stores. The second film, though the most entertaining of the three, suffers a tad from a bit too much spit and polish, having lost some of its texture because of its studio funding, but that quickly returns with the third film, easily the finest and most harrowing of the three. The first two films capture the seething, forward-moving anger at the heart of punk and heavy metal, but Part III develops an anger of its own for the plight of these forgotten and mistreated misfits. Spheeris illicits out of these broken kids a frankness and honesty that’s almost too much to watch, but this makes it all the more important.

‘The Decline of Western Civilization’ is an incredibly vital historical document, a piece of musical anthropology that captures with startling immediacy a moment in time and the artists and fans involved. It’s deeply personal, defiant and exciting, all the while remaining as objective as possible. It’s not popular entertainment, it certainly isn’t always easily digestible and it lacks some of the grace of other music documentaries like ‘Woodstock’ or ‘The Last Waltz’, but that doesn’t make it any less important. Anyone with interest in film or popular culture must take the opportunity that they have with the restoration of these films and add them to their collection. Penelope Spheeris may have captured the most honest snapshot of these ecstatic countercultures we will ever get.

This review covers the superb ViaVision Blu-ray release of ‘The Decline of Western Civilization’, but the Australian Centre for the Moving Image have announced plans to show the restored films during the summer months. Check www.acmi.net.au for details.

PICTURE & SOUND
All three films have been given a new 2k scan, which is the basis for the transfers on this Blu-ray release. They were never going to look amazing in 1080p high definition considering the low quality of the original sources, but it’s probably the best the three films have ever looked. Part II comes out the strongest, probably due to the higher production values, but the grittiness of Parts I and III are still intact, which is probably more important. These are historical documents, and its a credit to ViaVision that they’ve maintained that look. The films have also been given rigorous DTS-HD MA 5.1 remasters that give sound a great kick, though they also offer a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track for each that maintains their original theatrical presentation. This is certainly the best these films are going to look and sound, and for three independent documentaries on punk and heavy metal music, it’s pretty exciting that this amount of care went into them at all.

SPECIAL FEATURES
This is easily one of the most impressive packages assembled for a documentary, featuring hours of extra interviews, performances and material cut from the finished films. The first three discs house the three films, each accompanied by fascinating commentary from Spheeris (which not only gives insight into the making of each film but where the subjects are now), over an hour of extended and deleted interviews and music performances and vintage material from the release of the film. The fourth disc in the set adds even more deleted material from the three films, as well as some fascinating retrospective interviews and panel discussions about the film from recent years, as the series is now shown in a number of galleries and film festivals. This is an enormous set, and one that does exactly what a great Blu-ray release of a classic film should do - give us the context of the world it came from, and show us how important it is for the world now.