The Decline of Western Civilization
Leaving Soon
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1h 40m
Leaving February 1
Directed by Penelope Spheeris | 100 mins | 1981
Without doubt one of the great rock docs, Penelope Spheeris’s headily discordant portrait of West Coast punk—her directorial debut—showcases such hardcore luminaries as X, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Germs. As pure and pungent a time capsule as they come, it’s only fitting that the premiere—a jam-packed and rambunctious affair—was followed by a letter from the Los Angeles Chief of Police requesting that the film never be screened in the city again.
Up Next in Leaving Soon
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The Decline of Western Civilization P...
Leaving February 1
Directed by Penelope Spheeris | 93 mins | 1988
The scummy, lightening-in-a-bottle Los Angeles punk scene that Penelope Spheeris captured in the first “Decline of Western Civilization” (1981) had morphed considerably by the time of this second instalment, nearly a decade later:... -
The Decline of Western Civilization P...
Leaving February 1
Directed by Penelope Spheeris | 86 mins | 1998
After a detour into the high heady heyday of Sunset Strip hair metal in the second film of her essential social history of rock ’n’ roll in southern California, Spheeris returned to the hardcore punk roots of her first Decline, em... -
This Is Not a Film
Leaving February 1
Directed by Jafar Panahi | 75 mins | 2011
Placed on house arrest by the Iranian government and forbidden from any further filmmaking activity for the following 20 years, Panahi used the slender resources at his command—his own apartment as a “set,” the aide of friends, includi...
