The Decline of Western Civilization

Jul 1, 1981

1h 40m

★ 7.2

See it in a theater.... where you can't get hurt.

Overview

The Los Angeles punk music scene circa 1980 is the focus of this film. With Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Circle Jerks, Fear, Germs, and X.

Genres

Documentary

Music

Production Companies

Spheeris Films Inc.

The Decline of Western Civilization Trailers

Cast

Self

Eugene Tatu

Self

Alice Bag

Self

Claude Bessy

Self

Dinah Cancer

Self

Exene Cervenka

Self

Lorna Doom

Self

Darby Crash

Self

Don Bolles

Self

Philo Cramer

Self

John Doe

Self

Lee Ving

Self

Greg Ginn

When Francois Truffaut approached Alfred Hitchcock in 1962 with the idea of having a long conversation with him about his work and publishing this in book form, he didn't imagine that more than four years would pass before Le Cinéma selon Hitchcock finally appeared in 1966. Not only in France but all over the world, Truffaut's Hitchcock interview developed over the years into a standard bible of film literature. In 1983, three years after Hitchcock's death, Truffaut decided to expand his by now legendary book to include a concluding chapter and have it published as the "Edition définitive". This film describes the genesis of the "Hitchbook" and throws light on the strange friendship between two completely different men. The centrepieces are the extracts from the original sound recordings of the interview with the voices of Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut, and Helen Scott – recordings which have never been heard in public before.

6.2

Spell Reel

Feb 12, 2017

The first image is in black and white, upside down and projected into a black box that then becomes the frame. It now hovers like a time capsule near a man’s face. He looks down, listening in on a female guerrilla fighter and translating her words from Fulani. Within the capsule, money is counted and paid out as a new currency, the numbers of the years run backwards in the black box. A 16-mm film glides through the man's hands and is transferred to a laptop screen frame by frame.

5.4

After Porn Ends 2

Mar 28, 2017

After Porn Ends 2 picks up where its predecessor left off and not only turns back the clock to meet the oldest living stars in adult film's history, but goes in depth with some of Its most current retirees and juxtaposes their experiences in a life after porn. Delving deeper into society's ongoing stigmas of race, misogyny, and the reality of decreasing opportunities for these former VHS box cover stars. For some, their careers in adult entertainment is accepted proudly and without regret. In fact, it seems to have proven to be the pathway to their current happiness and inner peace. For others, however, a career in porn has proven to be a conduit to certain despair as they struggle to find a way to bury their past and emerge with a new career or calling.

6.0

Citizen Schein

Mar 10, 2017

Harry Schein was an anomaly in Swedish cultural society. Equal parts playboy, intellectual, and political visionary, his life story could very well be the foundation of a Hollywood film. Citizen Schein is a film about a refugee who refused to look back, a film about powerful men, and the myths that fuel them.

6.0

Baronesa

Jun 14, 2018

The everyday life of a Belo Horizonte lower class neighborhood.

0.0

Alessandro Safina: Live in Italy

Jan 1, 2001

The long awaited DVD of the concert by Alessandro Safina on the southern coast of Italy. With a beautiful sunset in the background he performs all his hits, supported by a great orchestra and with Patricia Monterola as special guest! An hour of the very best from Italy!

7.9

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

Nov 27, 1991

A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.

0.0

From Victoria Street to Ang Mo Kio

May 26, 2019

This work documents a segment of Singapore’s education history –– the survival of the nation’s first Catholic missionary Chinese girls’ school through adversities during her formative years. It is a tribute to the arduous efforts and contributions of a generation of admirable educators who persevered in delivering the education of love with resilience and steadfastness.

10.0

Out of Plain Sight

Nov 16, 2024

From the Los Angeles Times and Pulitzer Prize-finalist Rosanna Xia, OUT OF PLAIN SIGHT is a cinematic exposé of an environmental disaster lurking just off the coast of Southern California. Not far from Catalina Island, aboard one of the most-advanced research ships in the world, David Valentine discovered a corroded barrel on the seafloor that gave him chills. The full environmental horror sharpens into greater clarity once he calls Xia, who pieces together a shocking revelation: In the years after World War II, as many as half a million barrels of toxic waste had been quietly dumped into the ocean – and the consequences continue to haunt the world today.

6.0

Radiohead: Live at MTV's $2 Bill 2003

Jun 5, 2003

SETLIST: 1 Where Bluebirds Fly-- 2 There There-- 3 2+2=5-- 4 National Anthem-- 5 Morning Bell-- 6 Scatterbrain-- 7 Kid A-- 8 Go To Sleep-- 9 Climbing Up The Walls--10 Backdrifts--11 Sail To The Moon--12 Sit Down Stand Up--13 No Surprises--14 Talk Show Host--15 Where I End And You Begin--16 Paranoid Android--17 Idioteque--18 After The Goldrush (Neil Young cover)--19 Everything In Its Right Place--20 I Might Be Wrong (Encore 1)--21 The Gloaming--22 A Punch-Up At A Wedding--23 Fake Plastic Trees--24 Karma Police (Encore 2)--25 Lucky--26 True Love Waits (Encore 3)

6.8

Blindsight

Sep 11, 2006

Six blind Tibetan teenagers climb the Lhakpa-Ri peak of Mount Everest, led by seven-summit blind mountain-climber Erik Weihenmayer.

8.0

Walt Disney's 'The Jungle Book': The Making of a Musical Masterpiece

Oct 14, 1997

Documentary about the making of Disney's animated musical adaptation of Kipling's classic.

No Image

0.0

Le Club : Claude Jade

Apr 11, 2001

No overview available.

4.3

Casa Roshell

Nov 13, 2017

You’d never know this is your home away from home. The surveillance camera outside shows a drab reception area and an unremarkable street in Mexico City; inside, the lights flash, but the tables are empty. Yet preparations are soon underway and fixed categories cease to apply: stubble is removed, make-up applied and strands of hair are teased into place; the camera is trained not on the men themselves, but what they see in the mirror.

8.0

$avvy

Apr 1, 2021

$avy investigates the historical, cultural, and societal norms around women and money.

8.0

Boire

Sep 12, 2025

No overview available.

8.0

Augustus und Livia - Liebe, Macht und Schwert

Nov 19, 2021

Augustus is reputed to have been a violent, adventurous, power-hungry and unscrupulous warlord. Yet as founder of the Roman Empire, he ushered in a period of peace and prosperity. Drawing on the analysis of several historians, this documentary traces an extraordinary destiny: posthumously adopted by his great-uncle Julius Caesar, Octavian, the future Augustus, accepted an inheritance fraught with consequences. Having made his own empire prosper, he wrote his political will at the age of 76, without naming an heir. How was the succession of this childless strategist organized?

7.1

A Star Is Born

Oct 1, 1954

A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

6.0

Tuna Tartare

Aug 15, 2025

In a karaoke bar in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, an expired can of tuna fish and a fake Louis Vuitton purse encourage each other to believe in their artistic voices even if the world sees them as trash.