Back in the spring of 1977, Don Letts was the DJ at the Roxy, the legendary punk club located in London's Covent Garden. The Roxy was the one club where punk rock hadn't been banned, but the club's life span was a mere 100 days, as it faced a maelstrom of violence, noise complaints and police raids. In that time, Letts bought a Super-8 camera and recorded the bands that played there, up-and-coming groups such as the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Slits and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
"The Punk Rock Movie" is the documentary that Letts assembled from his footage. It's almost entirely live performances, enlivened by a few inaudible interviews and random chaos. Unlike "Tonite Let's All Make Love In London" (which documented '60s psychedelia), there are no celebrity interviews or talking heads. In fact, there's no context whatsoever — Letts just drops us into the club and lets us soak up the vibe.
The vibe in 1977 was, in a word, deranged. This was the year that Western youth imploded. Kids went from wanting more freedom — the '60s — to wanting provocation, chaos and the irrational. You can see it in the swastika armbands, the safety pins poked through the cheek, the spasmodic, flailing dancing, and clearly in the eyes of people both on-stage and off.
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