The Decline of Western Civilization (1981) on Netflix
NR19811h 40mDocumentaryMusic
A camera follows the Los Angeles punk rock scene through 1979 and 1980. Concert sets by Black Flag, the Germs, X and Fear come with band members and punks describing their subculture.
- Netflix4.4/5
- IMDb7.5/105,827 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
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Plot summary
A documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980 looks at the punk rock scene in Los Angeles. Cameras record concert performances by Black Flag, the Germs, X, the Circle Jerks, Fear, Catholic Discipline and the Alice Bag Band, whose sets include songs such as "Wasted," "White Minority" and "We're Desperate." Between the shows, band members, the publishers of the Slash fanzine and the punks who make up the audience talk about the scene around them, which much of the music press overlooked at the time. The film is the first in a trilogy about Los Angeles music scenes; the later parts turn to heavy metal in the late 1980s and to homeless gutter punk teenagers.
Cast
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- In 1981, Los Angeles Police Department chief Daryl Gates wrote a letter demanding that The Decline of Western Civilization not be shown again in the city.
- The promotional poster and the soundtrack album cover used a close-up frame of Germs singer Darby Crash lying on stage with his eyes closed, and the images were designed before Crash died of a heroin-induced suicide ahead of the film's release.
- In 2016, The Decline of Western Civilization was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, which deemed it culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.
