7.5/10
1,122
6 user 8 critic

1991: The Year Punk Broke (1992)

David Markey's documentary of life on the road with Sonic Youth and Nirvana during their tour of Europe in late 1991. Also featuring live performances by Dinosaur Jr, Babes In Toyland, The ... See full summary »

Director:

(as Dave Markey)
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
Themselves
...
Herself - Sonic Youth
...
Himself - Sonic Youth
Steve Shelley ...
Himself - Sonic Youth
...
Himself - Sonic Youth
...
Themselves
...
Himself - Nirvana
...
Himself - Nirvana
...
Himself - Nirvana (as Chris Novoselic)
...
Themselves
Mike Johnson ...
Himself - Dinosaur Jr.
...
Himself - Dinosaur Jr.
...
Himself - Dinosaur Jr.
Babes In Toyland ...
Themselves
Lori Barbero ...
Herself - Babes in Toyland
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Storyline

David Markey's documentary of life on the road with Sonic Youth and Nirvana during their tour of Europe in late 1991. Also featuring live performances by Dinosaur Jr, Babes In Toyland, The Ramones and Gumball. Written by Alexander Lum <[email protected]>

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20 November 1992 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

1991: Год прорыва панка  »

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User Reviews

 
This One's Strictly of Any Interest for Sonic Youth and Die-hard Nirvana Fans Only
21 January 2012 | by (Bangkok, Thailand) – See all my reviews

First of all, this movie's production must be commented on. It's very home movie-ish. That is to say, expect lots of randomly edited, disjointed, shaky clips which all add up to a collage of cinematic noise - perfectly complemented by the many clips of noise inspired (if... 'noise' could be of inspiration to anyone...) music, which permeates this film.

Sure, I like quite a few Nirvana songs, but not much Sonic Youth. Albeit in her day, I'll safely say that their bass playing girl was extremely cute. Her cuteness does not, however, eclipse the fact that their noise bound music was not exactly what one whistles on the way to work.

Yes, I was very disappointed by this, in spite of its high rating; mainly for the reasons stated in 1st para above. However, if you adore Sonic Youth then you'll probably like this enough to rate it highly, in spite of its many productive shortcomings. Just don't expect any great story, revelatory insights, or any thing remotely meaningful to be found lurking behind all the disjointed clips plus occasional cameos from Kurt and friends.

All in all, this is a very average experience and you could safely live your life, and say you've lived without needing to watch this first. 5/5 at best for most folk, and 7+/10 for lovers of Sonic Youth's sound.


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