technicolour yawn
Before I watched Hard Core Logo, I was warned by all and sundry that it was a difficult and depressing film and that it emotionally affected a lot of people. When I watched it, I was surprised at how un-difficult I found it to watch. Sure there's drugs, there's violence and someone kills themselves onscreen, but it's not that bad.... Maybe I'm emotionally detached. Maybe I just haven't been shaken up by enough traumatic life events to really understand and flinch away from the events depicted onscreen in HCL. Or maybe I've just watched too many punk movies....
What is a punk movie? Well, loosely speaking a punk movie is any movie about punks, or any movie that has a strong punk sensibility. Punk is diverse so punk movies are diverse in form, genre and content. But there is also a specific genre of punk movie. Arguably tipping into punksploitation, these are movies form the late 70s and early 80s that capitalize on punks' post-Sid Vicious notoriety. Films about punk youth that depict the squalor and danger of punk life, often with a moral warning about the consequences of punk nihilism and decadence.
- Suburbia
- We Are The Best
- The Great Rock N' Roll Swindle
- Times Square
- Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains
- Jubilee
- Breaking Glass
- Another State of Mind
- Open Your Mouth And Say....Mr Chi Pig
- The Decline And Fall Of Western Civilization, Part 1
- Out Of The Blue
- Sid and Nancy
- The Clash: Rude Boy
- Hedwig + The Angry Itch
Out of all these punk films, Suburbia offers a more redemptive view of punk, making it clear that these kids have nowhere to go and are trying to create new families.
Additional Resources
Destroy All Movies is a very comprehensive guide to punk movies from all over the world, now out of print.