The Decline of Western Civilization Part III

Released Jan 29, 1998

1h 26m

Documentary

List

100%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

80%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

In this documentary, filmmaker Penelope Spheeris captures the life of Los Angeles "gutter punks": homeless teenagers who prefer anarchy and chaos to organized society. Many of the film's subjects come from abusive households and have developed alcohol and drug problems. While living on the streets, they must panhandle, squat in abandoned apartment buildings and fight off skinheads to survive. The film also includes performances by several notable Los Angeles punk bands.

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Rent The Decline of Western Civilization Part III on Prime Video, or buy it on Prime Video.

Luca Cimarusti

Chicago Reader

The third installment of Penelope Spheeris's documentary series on subversive musical movements, released in 1998, is by far the darkest.

Nov 9, 2017

Full Review

Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

A culmination of her achievement in the trilogy, which chronicles a scene with visceral skill, and often with an anthropologist's detachment. Yet you can only detach for so long.

May 28, 2016

Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B+

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

D.M. Palmer

Vague Visages

Before Quentin Tarantino popularized the practice, Araki was a master of curating tracks.

Nov 9, 2023

Full Review

Film Threat

Rated: 3.5/5

Dec 6, 2005

Full Review

Scott Von Doviak

Film Threat

If 'Kids' was a little too uplifting for your taste, then this is the documentary for you.

Rated: 3.5/5

Dec 8, 2002

Full Review

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Audience Member

The Decline of Western Civilization Part III: In the third of the Decline films, director Penelope Spheeris revisits the punk scene she illuminated in her first Decline film. Here she finds the struggle of street kids and young adults in West Hollywood trying to make it day by day, fighting off attacks from skinheads and following the ever decreasing number of punk bands that remain in the scene. The Good: Like her previous two films Spheeris highlights some bands and one of them is actually pretty good. Naked Aggression led by lead singer Kirsten Patches seemed like America's answer to Chumbawamba. The band even shows their not inconsiderable classical music chops. As Todd in the Shadows would say they deserved better. The Bad: In 1999 Rory Kennedy made a documentary about a family in Appalachia that had been beset by poverty for the last 100 years. Being the youngest daughter of Robert F Kennedy this was a topic that was close to her heart. Her film American Hollow would expose us to the real people behind the poverty and help bring in a new age of help for those folks dependent on handouts whom the American Dream had passed by. Unfortunately for Rory, her film features the laziest bunch of yokels this side of Jerry Springer. Rory simple didn't see it. One cannot watch her film and not think we need to cut welfare of yesterday and get these people a clue. Spheeris doesn't see it as well. Yes, the kids featured are broken. In reality, many of them are pretty horrible people. There is a scene where they all crash at a poor black man's apartment. He is in a wheelchair from an auto accident, doesn't drink and lives in a humble one bedroom. About sixty of these street hooligans pile in there as if it was a scene from Aronofsky's Mother!. They trash the place beyond recovery and the look of pain in the man's eyes is haunting. He just wanted a friend. Spheeris does her interviews like the previous two films and once again most of her subjects are understandably about as deep as a puddle. She seems interested in the dirt about how they left home but leaves some obvious questions on the table. Starting with why are they dressed in fashions that went out of style before they were born. In conclusion: Punk is long dead by the time the documentary starts. The bands, with one exception noted above, are barely garage bands and the fans are begging for a dollar to buy a pint of MD 20/20. Apparently, there are skinhead Nazis that prey on these youth but we never see one and Spheeris really drops the ball not getting one to sit down and tell their story. On some level, it is an interesting look at a slice of life on the margins but the combination of bad people and bad music make this an unpleasant ride. One wishes for a filmmaker who could see what she really was looking at.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Much more about the gutterpunk scene than the music. And more pathos than Volumes 1&2.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I wish I'd seen an earlier installment. This is a sad documentary of of neglected children with low IQs, who respond to their neglect and ignorance by being antisocial, anti-police, ugly, self-mutilating and aggressive. They go on and on about how they hate the "Nazis" and they're not racists, while they cut to a scene of 2 of them on the LA streets loudly making fun of 2 Asians. And everything they rant about reinforces their intolerance. I had to turn it off. I don't know what that crap was in the mid-90s but it's not Punk Rock.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Undoubtedly Spheeris' most penetrating film to date.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

By far the most personal and emotionally resonant of the trilogy, and focuses more on the day-to-day existence of the fans who live and breathe the nihilistic ethos of the musicians they love. Thank God too because I don't give two shits about any of these bands. A total fucking downer in the end.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A great new chapter in the series

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

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Penelope Spheeris

Director

Gary Fredo

Self

Rick Wilder

Self

Scott Wilder

Producer

Jamie Thompson

Cinematographer

Ross Albert

Film Editing

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Synopsis

In this documentary, filmmaker Penelope Spheeris captures the life of Los Angeles "gutter punks": homeless teenagers who prefer anarchy and chaos to organized society. Many of the film's subjects come from abusive households and have developed alcohol and drug problems. While living on the streets, they must panhandle, squat in abandoned apartment buildings and fight off skinheads to survive. The film also includes performances by several notable Los Angeles punk bands.

Director: Penelope Spheeris
Production Co: Spheeris Films Inc.
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 29, 1998, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Runtime: 1h 26m
Sound Mix: Dolby, Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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