The Decline of Western Civilization
Directed by Penelope Spheeris • 1981 • United States
This riveting, unflinching, and hard-core documentary adeptly captures the spirit of a major cultural phenomenon and features performances by X, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Germs, and Alice Bag Band. Breaking down barriers of expression and social mores, these Los Angeles punks opposed everything, giving birth to an antiestablishment view of the world that permeates today’s music, politics, social attitudes, styles, and trends. Spheeris’s film documents their deliberate reaction to the mass commercialism of music. Still burgeoning at the time, many of the punk bands first seen here have since become legendary.
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The Decline of Western Civilization
Directed by Penelope Spheeris • 1981 • United States
This riveting, unflinching, and hard-core documentary adeptly captures the spirit of a major cultural phenomenon and features performances by X, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Germs, and Alice Bag Band. Breaking down barriers o...
Extras
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THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION Commentary
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Penelope Spheeris at Sundance
The following interview with director Penelope Spheeris on THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION III was recorded at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.
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Henry Rollins and Penelope Spheeris in Conversation
Director Penelope Spheeris discusses filmmaking and career epiphanies with the legendary Black Flag front man.
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Mark Toscano and Penelope Spheeris in Conversation
In the following conversation, recorded in 2014 at the University of Michigan, filmmaker and archivist Mark Toscano talks with director Penelope Spheeris about her career, her beginnings as a music video director, and the DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION trilogy.
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Behind the Scenes of THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION PART III
This behind-the-scenes footage is accompanied by a voice-over from Penelope Spheeris that offers insight into her filmmaking process.
