The Decline of Western Civilization

A movie so pungent and filled with sweaty intensity that you can practically smell the rank body odour of the film's subjects as they hurl their bodies against each other in a frenzy of aggression or perform as if in a trance, soaked with perspiration.

The Decline . . . of Western Civilization is a bracing primer to just about anything one might want to know about the hard-core punk scene. At the same time, it's remarkably evenhanded, making no judgment on the musical or social standards of the movement. Director Penelope Spheeris neither champions, patronizes nor condescends to the participants' stylized fury. The result is a film that will appeal equally to the furious and the curious, assuming that both enter the arena with an open mind. [10 Nov 1981, p.D2]

A bracing, stimulating and technically superb close-up look at the LA punk scene, pic is pitched at a perfect distance to allow for simultaneous engagement in the music and spectacle, and for rueful contemplation of what it all might mean.

The performance footage alone makes this worthy of study by musicologists and historians. There are too many great scenes to mention.

A shrewd and engrossing documentary even for audiences who have absolutely no patience for the music it includes.

It's far from unmissable, but it's valuable rock history with some great noise.

Creatively edited and as insightful as any film can be about the lowest rungs of the music scene, this overview expertly captures the time and place. Still, the movie lacks the crossover potential to appeal to non-punk viewers.