The Decline of Western Civilization III
8.4 /10 1 Votes
100% Rotten Tomatoes Director Penelope Spheeris Music director Phil Suchomel Country United States | 7.4/10 IMDb 77% Metacritic Genre Documentary, Music Duration Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date 1998 (1998) (U.S.) Film series The Decline of Western Civilization Cast Naked Aggression, Flea, Rick Wilder, Gary Fredo Similar movies Related Penelope Spheeris movies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Decline of Western Civilization III is a 1998 documentary film directed by Penelope Spheeris that chronicles the gutter punk lifestyle of homeless teenagers. It is the third film of a trilogy by Spheeris depicting life in Los Angeles at various points in time. The first film The Decline of Western Civilization dealt with the punk rock scene during 1980-1981. The second film The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years covers the Los Angeles heavy metal movement of 1986-1988.
Contents
Spheeris would later credit the film with having a profound effect on her. She began a relationship with Eyeball, one of the homeless youth featured in the movie and afterwards signed up to be a foster parent, eventually fostering five kids.
Synopsis
The film involves gutter punks who take the anti-establishment message with extreme seriousness, and tune out society completely. Spheeris talks to homeless teenagers living on the street or squatting in abandoned buildings in Los Angeles, as well as an unstable mother, Los Angeles Police Department officer Gary Fredo, and a paralyzed youth living on disability.
Musicians interviewed include Keith Morris (Black Flag, Circle Jerks) and Flea (Fear, Red Hot Chili Peppers).
Performances by four bands were filmed: Final Conflict, Litmus Green, Naked Aggression and The Resistance.
Reception and distribution
The film premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Freedom of Expression Award, and was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival and the Chicago Underground Film Festival where it received a jury award. However, it never went into general release and was not available on VHS or DVD until the release in 2015 of a box set containing all three films on DVD and blu-ray. Decline III was also released separately via streaming video.
References
The Decline of Western Civilization III WikipediaThe Decline of Western Civilization III IMDbThe Decline of Western Civilization III Rotten TomatoesThe Decline of Western Civilization III MetacriticThe Decline of Western Civilization III themoviedb.org