Documentary – Punk’s Not Dead

In Punk’s Not Dead, director Susan Dynner asks the simple, worn out question: is punk dead? To find the most thorough answer possible, Dynner gets up close and personal to the who’s who of the “punk” scene. Some of them reverently deny the claim that the movement is six feet underground while others proudly attempt to push it down to seven feet and then there’s the odd few who really couldn’t give a shit whether it was underground or not. And even though the question still remains lingering by the end of the DVD, it definitely makes for one hell of a ride.

For you see, the documentary does more than just ask the age old question but instead dives deeper into the history and evolution of the sound, style and culture. It plays as a tribute in some ways or better yet a short history of the scene. It starts off in the late seventies with bands like Social Distortion, TSOL, Minor Threat, The Buzzcocks, The Exploited, The Anti-Nowhere League, Subhumans, UK Subs, The Addicts and more. They all tell their stories of the scene, the movement, the ideals and their take on the current state of the scene. It then progresses to the late eighties when bands like Bad Religion, Pennywise, NOFX, Flipper and The Vandals all made a name for themselves. Then came the boom. Green Day. The Offspring, Rancid.Then the turn of the century with The Used, Good Charlotte, Warped Tour, God Awfuls, My Chemical Romance, Sum41. Its a step by step look at the pivotal punk of the punk rock story line.

But it is what is found scattered between the history lesson that makes Punk’s Not Dead unique; and I’m not just talking about the archived video footage and photos. I’m not even talking about the opinions, the views, and the contrasting ideals presented by the band members or the labels. No, what makes this DVD stand out is the interviews with the unknowns. The conversation about choreographed jumps and corporate sponsorship may strike true but the look at the deep and “dirty” underground scene is what opens up the viewers eyes and really does the best job at proving that punk is, in fact, alive and well.

More specifically, the shinning moments start when Dynner takes in-depth look at the Drunk Tank – a local home of punks in California (I believe). Its a squat house where a group of people live and pay the rent by putting on shows. There’s weekly dodge ball games and the entire environment is built around the core of punk ideals. It moves on to see the old bands reminiscing about staying in houses like that, with Dick Lucas of The Subhumans giving a tour of one of those houses. The little segment gives the viewer a glimpse at the classic ideals being replanted in today’s society and is the highlight of the documentary.

Even as punk is becoming more of a fashion statement and stores like Hot Topic are climbing the corporate ladder thanks to it, Punks Not Dead shows that the true ideology is still there and shows it all in a rather interesting combination of interviews, live clips and photos. On top of that, it’s also a nice little look back at the evolution of the scene; but will it see multiple viewings? Sadly, that’s unlikely.