Blank Generation (1980/MVD Visual DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: C Film: C-
Just
before taking permanent residence making B-movie horror after the notable
release of The Boogeyman in 1980 (it
was all downhill from there), Ulli Lommel directed Blank Generation issued earlier the same year. In an unlikely Punk retelling of a Rock Music
cliché, the great French actress Carole Bouquet plays Nada, a reporter who is
out to cover the Punk scene and pursues Billy (played by Richard Hell of the
Voidoids) in a film that at least manages to capture the pre-cleaned up New
York City and Time Square when it was still rough and urban as can be.
Bouquet
returned to French cinema unaffected, but her next film was as Melina in For Your Eyes Only, one of the best
James bond films ever made in 1981, a year later (reviewed elsewhere on this
site). The best moment is when she talks
to Andy Warhol, playing himself in a cameo, but she sadly comes across
awkwardly and cannot save the film either. A curio some will want to see just once, this
is otherwise a fans-only release.
The anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is not in the best of shape for a film shot in 35mm
with grain, print damage, softness and depth issues. The film also has two cinematographers whose
work fits together well: Atze Glanert and legendary Edward Lachman (Less Than Zero, Light Sleeper, The Limey,
The Virgin Suicides) and this work
needs to be restored and preserved better than what we see here. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also weak, noisy
and a few generations down. Punk rockers
might like this kind of rough sound, but you and your system likely will not
and dialogue is not helped by it either.
Nor is the early score by Elliot Goldenthal, who later retuned to film
music with great scores for Alien 3,
Batman Forever, Heat and Public Enemies.
Extras include
pieces on the stars, a 45-minutes-long Hell interview by Luc Sante of Hell and
live performance by Hell & The Voidoids at CBGBs.
- Nicholas Sheffo
