Country: USA
Year: 1983
Duration: 94'


A group of runaway teenagers occupy some abandoned houses in a Los Angeles neighborhood. What they have in common are life experiences of abuse, lack of affection, and no prospects for the future. But they also share a need for a true family where they can take refuge and feel safe. Their bond is punk rock, which becomes their safety valve and milieu for socializing. But they have to come to terms with their middle class neighbors, who don’t take kindly to them and consider them lowlife criminals. In a crescendo of tension, the tragic finale is inevitable. [rm]

Biography

film director

Penelope Spheeris

Penelope Spheeris (New Orleans, LA, USA, 1945) studied biology at the University of California and film and theatre at UCLA. After working in television, she directed a documentary about the American punk scene, The Decline of Western Civilization in 1981, which soon became legendary. It was followed by The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988), focusing on L.A.’s glam and heavy metal scene; and The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (1998), in which her interest returns to punk rock. At the same time, she directed the cult movies Suburbia (1983) and Wayne’s World (1992), and a many comedies, including The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), The Little Rascals (1994), Black Sheep (1996) and Senseless (1998).

FILMOGRAFIA

The Decline of Western Civilization (doc., 1981), Suburbia (id., 1983), The Boys Next Door (I ragazzi della porta accanto, 1985), Hollywood Vice Squad (id., 1986), Dudes (Dudes, diciottenni arrabbiati, 1987), The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (doc., 1988), Wayne’s World (Fusi di testa, 1992), The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (doc., 1998), The Beverly Hillbillies (A Beverly Hills… signori si diventa, 1993), The Little Rascals (Piccole canaglie, 1994), Black Sheep (La pecora nera, 1996), Senseless (Effetti collaterali, 1998). 

Declaration

film director

“I decided to write a fiction piece in the same vein as the documentaries and that’s where Suburbia came from. And a lot of the stories that are laid out in there are true, or a derivation of truth, anyway. It didn’t really get much of a release. It’s weird because it had a lasting power, and people still like Suburbia too. A lot. Between Suburbia and the first Decline, people say: ‘Those movies changed my life.’ So. That’s what’s cool.”

Cast

& Credits

regia, soggetto, sceneggiatura/director, story, screenplay
Penelope Spheeris
fotografia/cinematography
Tim Suhrstedt
montaggio/film editing
Ross Albert, Michael Oleksinski
costumi/costume design
Dana Lyman
musica/music
Alex Gibson
suono/sound
Troy Porter
interpreti e personaggi/cast and characters
Chris Pedersen (Jack Diddley), Bill Coyne (Evan Johnson), Jennifer Clay (Sheila), Timothy O’Brien (Skinner), Wade Walston (Joe Schmo), Flea (Razzle), Maggie Ehrig (Maggie), Grat Miner (Keef), Christina Beck (T’resa), Andrew Pece (Ethan Johnson), DI, T.S.O.L., The Vandals
produttori/producers
Bert L. Dragin, Roger Corman
produzione/production
Suburbia Productions
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