(It’s a pity the awful Dead Boys are included in this film but they only stink up proceedings for a minute or so.)
When it comes to the U.K. side of things, this
documentary isn’t as comprehensive as Don Letts’ The Punk Rock Movie but I
prefer it for other reasons. DOA is loaded with fascinating and brilliant
sequences. It nicely depicts the small existences that left a big impression.
It’s happy and sad, boring and exciting, naïve and wise, ridiculous and fantastic - all at the same time. And
it's always sincere. It’s great filmmaking and is my favourite of the films I’ve seen
about this musical era and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen most, if not all of them.
It gives everything context.
Mary Whitehouse is here, sounding a bit like an idealistic
old punk herself in a funny way. There’s a guy called Terry Sylvester in this
too. He's certainly no musical genius but I enjoy him a lot. He’s not known at
all really. Here’s a link to something about him and how he ended up in the film if you’re interested - http://www.rocknrollsnob.com/2010/03/04/who-were-those-idiots/
There are an awful lot of other interesting characters here
too, bystanders and participants. You can’t help wondering what became of them.
One of the few Americans in the film that I warmed to is the girl who has been
thrown on the ground and couldn’t be bothered getting up. She addresses the
camera without even bothering to lift her head.
Watching this for me is like watching bittersweet footage
of ghosts or looking at the ghost of a time past that perhaps could come again -
in a new way. We’ll have to wait and see. Those were dull and restrictive times
that led to an exciting expression of freedom. Newton’s Laws of Motion state that for every
action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If the same is true culturally
then take a look at the world around you - co-opted, corporate, crumbling - and
expect the opposite.
A few final things of note: Watching this, I was reminded what
a declaration of war against their homeland the Pistols’ song God Save the
Queen was. It reached number one but the free society of Britain refused
to acknowledge it (see the absurd image of the chart listings from the time included above). Also, keep an ear out for the moderate amount of
preconditions that had to be met before the Pistols were allowed to perform
publicly by the G.L.C. Hilarious stuff. Finally, do you remember making your own swings?
Invariably dangerous things. Do kids still do that? Probably not. It’s all
Parkour these days. Parkour is making your own swing on steroids I suppose. The
ethic evolves.
Anyway, here’s the film, if anyone’s watching… I must check
out Lech Kowalski’s other documentaries.
