Punk was always a labor movement, a voice of the under privileged and unheard fringe groups in both American and English society. The great irony was that most of the punk movement was an intellectual one, and those who gravitated you the message were often middle class if not wealthy. The truth was that "Sex Pistols" were manufactured, the "Ramons" while sticking rigidly to their roots, were still trying to make a buck, and Strummer had to renounce his affluent upbringing to become a voice of the working class hero.
Many of these bands where strongly political, many spoke from a voice of unrest, all of them had something to say about the Government, mostly critical. These are the roots of punk. But, what happens when those values take root in a neo-Communist world? This is the story of "Beijing Punk", a raw and skillfully made documentary that gives you a first hand look at some of Beijing's biggest punk bands and the uncomfortable role they play with the government of China. These aren't bands looking to start a violent uprising, or over turn the fascist "Reaganites". These are bands who want to play music, who struggle to live a dream in honest poverty rather than securing a job, which would likely place them in 10 to 12 hour work days, with no time to play or practice what they love. These are bands who have embraced all that is true about punk rock, it's history and it's politics, while growing up and living in a country that maintained strong control over it's people their entire lives. Can China and Punk Rock co-exist in a Communist society? Can a band lash out at a government that needs to approve its lyrics? This documentary shows you the delicate walk between true punk rockers and the controlled environment they have grown up in.
I highly recommend this documentary to all the "punks" out there who think they know what the movement is about. Punk in China will give honest perspective to everything you thought you knew. I recommend this documentary to every music lover who truly sees music as a form of expression. Finally, I recommend this documentary to everyone curious about the future of the one country fast become the next super-power, for China itself is redefining the world, just as punk is helping to redefine China.
Many of these bands where strongly political, many spoke from a voice of unrest, all of them had something to say about the Government, mostly critical. These are the roots of punk. But, what happens when those values take root in a neo-Communist world? This is the story of "Beijing Punk", a raw and skillfully made documentary that gives you a first hand look at some of Beijing's biggest punk bands and the uncomfortable role they play with the government of China. These aren't bands looking to start a violent uprising, or over turn the fascist "Reaganites". These are bands who want to play music, who struggle to live a dream in honest poverty rather than securing a job, which would likely place them in 10 to 12 hour work days, with no time to play or practice what they love. These are bands who have embraced all that is true about punk rock, it's history and it's politics, while growing up and living in a country that maintained strong control over it's people their entire lives. Can China and Punk Rock co-exist in a Communist society? Can a band lash out at a government that needs to approve its lyrics? This documentary shows you the delicate walk between true punk rockers and the controlled environment they have grown up in.
I highly recommend this documentary to all the "punks" out there who think they know what the movement is about. Punk in China will give honest perspective to everything you thought you knew. I recommend this documentary to every music lover who truly sees music as a form of expression. Finally, I recommend this documentary to everyone curious about the future of the one country fast become the next super-power, for China itself is redefining the world, just as punk is helping to redefine China.