Review of What We Do Is Secret (2007) by Paul G — 12 May 2008
Canadian premiere @ Calgary Underground Film Festival, April 15th (?).
Honestly, I hoped for somethig a little more... gritty? a little bleaker and heavier on the self-destruction and downward spiral motifs? This wasn't Alex Cox... WWDIS had a kind of teeny-bopper feel to it... it was more like the OC with punky rawk and smack.... But, if I am honest, when we were that age, all us white suburban punks who saturated ourselves with the Germs and the whole LA scene in our day, a generation later... We talked and acted a LOT like the characters in this film... So maybe on that level it actually WORKS...
Another thing that bugged me was that the film couldn't seem to decide whether it was a drama or a mockumentary. And a lot of characterisation relied on recreations of interviews, or on the viewers' familiarity with the scene -- and especially with Decline of Western Civilisation... rather than on its own storytelling.
Conclusion: I'd say What We Do Is Secret was a little "lightweight", perhaps... but all said and done still an engaging and enjoyable personal homage to the 70s LA punk scene... And to America's IMNSHO still too-little-acknowledged punk rock self-destruction wunderkind -- Darby Crash.
(#).
This review of What We Do Is Secret (2007) was written by Paul G on 12 May 2008.
What We Do Is Secret has generally received mixed reviews.
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