Punk Performers & Theories Of Ideology ('Punk Mass' 1970 - )

Cyberpunk art and cinema stretches far beyond the established parameters of America's entertainment industry. It's become a global phenomenon in the digital age and cyberpunk cosplay is growing in popularity. Its rise was concurrent with the growth of punk-influenced political cinema which drew from original literary tracts. Genre filmmakers picked up on different facets of punk culture that could be worked into their films.

I'd like to consider a few national film industries that I feel have benefited greatly from punk, outside of America and the United Kingdom which housed the largest punk movements of the 1970s.

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10) Ireland

Ireland has a vibrant punk scene and Celtic punk is as popular as any form of punk flourishing today. Despite this, I don't recall seeing much in the way of Irish punk cinema. This could be to do with the political situation, or perhaps because some of the most prominent Irish punks boarded boats and relocated to London.

I can't remember if 'Rawhead Rex' (1986) would qualify as it's been so long since I've seen it. It's based on a story by Clive Barker. But from my own perspective, including Ireland does serve to remind me that I'd like to see the documentary 'Shellshock Rock' (1979) which Thurston Moore listed among his top 10 punk documentaries at the British Film Institute.

'Is this the UDA,

09) Italy

I've not noticed much in the way of punk in Italian cinema. The one exception is the horror genre which sometimes features punks as bait. Working-class Italians in cities like Rome, Milan and Turin typically gravitated towards hardcore punk bands who railed against the nation's corrupt institutions.

Journalists often write about the emergence of punk in Moscow, Russia and its connection there to poetry and protest. You can chart the impact of music in Lviv, Ukraine which has strong artistic traditions. Psychedelia, heavy metal and hardcore punk are part of the modern tapestry that makes up the city. 

It's worth noting that many of the great Soviet film directors were born in republics other than Russia. Alexander Dovzhenko, Grigori Kozintsev and Aleksandr Ptushko are three master filmmakers from Ukraine. Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi's extraordinary experimental picture 'The Tribe' (2014) is the culmination of underground punk filmmaking in Ukraine and one of the finest films of the last decade. It's shot in Kiev.

Several of the punk bands that formed in California in the 1970s had Latino or Chicano musicians within their ranks, including the Bags, the Brat, the Go-Go's, Los Illegals, the Nuns, the Plugz and the Zeros. Naturally, there was a direct line down to Mexico and it didn't take long for punk to break out in Mexico City where Dangerous Rhythm and Size ruled the roost.

Hailing from Mexico City, horror filmmaker Ruben Galindo Jr. has links to the punk scene and this comes through in the imagery in movies like 'Cemetery Of Terror' (1985), 'Don't Panic' (1988) and 'Grave Robbers' (1989). His work has attracted a cult following on the punk scene.

Hungary's punk subculture was the source of all manner of subversive materials during the final throes of Sovietisation. While punk was present in other nearby cities such as Bratislava in Slovakia, Prague in Czech Republic and Warsaw in Poland, the movement's cultural centre behind the iron curtain could be found in Budapest.

Filmmaker Bela Tarr has connections to the punk scene. Perhaps the defining cinematic work is Janos Xantus' 'Eskimo Woman Feels Cold' (1984) which stars Marietta Mehes and features a number of other musicians in acting roles.

You'd expect punk to play a major role in Australian cinema as the country produced beloved bands like the Birthday Party and the Saints.

The 'Mad Max' franchise was helmed by George Miller and its post-apocalyptic landscapes are populated by rogue punks. 'Centrespread' (1981) is icy, new wave erotica about the art of photography. The action feature 'Dead End Drive-In' (1986) is one of Quentin Tarantino's favourite movies and it carries a strong punk vibe. 

The punks of Madrid are well-known throughout Europe. The death of General Francisco Franco in 1975 ended years of suppression and artists could finally break down the walls of censorship. In doing so, they went a bit crazy, creating artworks that seriously pushed the boundaries in terms of explicit content. Punk was the perfect catalyst for change at the perfect time.

Spain's most famous living filmmaker, Pedro Almodovar, came up on the punk scene. His early work is indebted to the scene and it dominates 'Pepi, Luci, Bom And Other Girls Like Mom' (1980). His contemporary Bigas Luna also had links to the punk scene. They both knew musician Alaska who even had her own surreal punk show on television, 'The Crystal Ball'.

Comedians capitalised on the popularity of punk too, including legendary funnyman Andres Pajares who often worked alongside comedians Fernando Esteso and Antonio Ozores. My favourite of Mariano Ozores' genrebusting comedies are from this period including 'The Bingueros' (1979), 'The Energetic' (1979), 'The Erotic Masked' (1980), 'I Did Rocky III' (1980), 'The Blower' (1981), 'Magic Witches' (1981), 'The Prick' (1981), '¡What A Joy To Be Divorced!' (1981), 'Shake Before Use' (1983), 'The Worker' (1983) and 'La Lola Takes Us To The Orchard' (1984). Having appeared in most of them, Pajares collaborated with director Ramon Fernandez on the punk comedy 'The Donor' (1985) and Juan Ignacio Galvan on 'The Pregnant' (1987) which co-stars punk performer Carmen Grey.

Punk is an intrinsic part of French culture which always weaves new ideas into the fabric of the arts. Even filmmaker Eric Rohmer, who leaned against the use of non-diegetic sound, cast punk icon Elli Medeiros in the romantic comedy 'Full Moon In Paris' (1984).

A group of young stylists was responsible for pushing cyberpunk to greater cinematic extremes. This included Jean-Jacques Beineix, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Luc Besson and Leos Carax whose groundbreaking work came to exemplify the stylistic film movement known as "cinema du look".

Punk in Germany is similar to punk in France in that it's omnipresent. This is reflected in the work of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Ulli Lommel, Wim Wenders and Uli Edel, to name a few. Edel filmed Christiane Vera Felscherinow's autobiographical book 'We Children of Zoo Station' (1978) as 'Christiane F' (1981) which was scored by David Bowie and Jurgen Knieper.

Today, Germany is at the forefront of d.i.y. digital filmmaking. Horror filmmaker Jochen Taubert once made shoddy, low budget works that I feel were best forgotten but he's developed into one of the nation's leading directors in more recent years, achieving success with 'The Return Of The Forklift Drivers' (2013), 'Play My Limb Until Death' (2014), 'Dead Or Alive' (2015), 'Juliet & Romeo : Love Is A Battlefield' (2017) and 'The Pope's Daughter : We Come In The Name Of The Lord' (2020). In stock company player Alina Lina, he also has Europe's leading cinematic punk icon to call upon.

Also worth seeing are the recent low budget films of cinematic philosopher and provocateur Roland Reber who's similarly improved as he's gained experience. I'd recommend Reber's existential seriocomic excursions 'Angels With Dirty Wings' (2009), 'The Truth Of Lie' (2011), 'Illusion' (2013), 'Taste Of Life' (2017) and 'Cabaret Of Death' (2019).

I've already mentioned Canadian directors in the post I made about cyberpunk so I won't repeat myself. You can also see Canadian punks in other films I've mentioned on this thread, from 'Class Of 1984' (1982) to 'Breaking The Rules' (1985).

I'll add three more movies to the mix that revel in punk ideas and imagery; Rene Bonniere's comedy 'Perfect Timing' (1986), Jean-Claude Lauzon's thriller 'Night Zoo' (1987) and Rafal Zielinski's drama 'Fun' (1994).