short documentary - little over an hour - and perhaps a bit heavy on the self-congratulatoriness of the cbgb-franchising (although to be fair, not completely w/o merit) w/ club D-22, but overall a worthy xamination o' what i can only hope are the first few jagged stones thrown into the vast sea that is china
however the real tragedy is that these bands may be born, live a life o' constant struggle, and perish w/ hardly any notice from the outside world
working bands need to tour to survive - especially for those genres which are decidedly underground; and if, as the director/narrator says, 'they'll never be able to make it in china', then they will HAVE to go abroad.......yet if the gov keeps denying their visas, this will most likely suffocate these bands - which admittedly the chinese government probably has no problem w/, particularly as punk bands tend to have a political bent. on the other hand this may make them even more determined and relevant as their music & message spread out to the rurals o' china's countryside. not unlike how a raging inferno is ignited by a simple spark
one curious & obvious omission though, none o' the bands appearing in this doc are singing about tibet. odd (no doubt a guaranteed way to get one incarcerated & perhaps perished), that or it was a deiberate editing choice to not bring overt unwanted attention onto the band(s) who WERE, but in english
now, let's see some docs about punk bands in the war-torn middle-east !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
