USA: PENELOPE SPHEERIS MAKES FILM OF HOMELESS ,LOS ANGELES YOUTH IN "THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION ,PART 111"

Record ID: 388083

  • Title: USA: PENELOPE SPHEERIS MAKES FILM OF HOMELESS ,LOS ANGELES YOUTH IN "THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION ,PART 111"
  • Date: 28th November 1998
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 12, 1998) (REUTERS -- ACCESS ALL SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) SPHEERIS SAYING "I think having political conviction and doing political work and soical work is a luxury, it's a luxury that unfortunately a lot of these kids don't have. As I speak with them I've understood that Punk kids are above average intelligence, quite creative,
  • Embargoed: 13th December 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA73K4DE9GBA6PXLTSYGGO41APE
  • Story Text: Penelope Spheeris, finding time between her gigs as a director for hire on such pictures as "Wayne's World" and "The Little Rascals" has delivered "The Decline of Western Civilization Part III," her look at the lives of the homeless, nomadic punk kids of Los Angeles.
    Whereas the first installment of Spheeris' trilogy concerned itself with the birth of a new music genre and the second on the Los Angeles metal scene, Part III focuses on the lifestyles of present-day punk kids.Most are teenage alcoholics who panhandle and occupy abandoned buildings for shelter.They simultaneously evoke emotions of deep empathy and pathetic disdain.Spheeris brings the viewer into a subculture of a once vibrant creative force, offshoot "gutterpunks" of the politically adept Punk movement in Los Angeles.
    The film combines interviews with faithful fans of the residual Punk music scene, live performances by underground bands and accounts from those who have an intimate knowledge of the scene.
    Director Spheeris personally financed the project, with the intention that all proceeds from its distribution go to charities for homeless young people and abused children.
    Spheeris' directorial debut was her initial "The Decline of Western Civilization," a term she found ironic as a title for that 1979 film but now sees as prophetic.In 1998 "Part II: The Metal Years" was released.Part III's focus on lifestyle rather than music was a conscious decision by Spheeris as well as a realization that the most tangible legacy of the erly Punk movement were the "gutterpunks," the products of child abuse and a society truly in decline.
    "Decline III" reaches into the undrside of this subculture to indicate that twenty years later perhaps Johnny Rotten's "No Future" reference has taken on a new meaning.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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