Age of Rage – The Australian Punk Revolution – REVIEW
Image: Still image from Age of Rage.
By MARTIN FABINYI
Jennifer Ross’s documentary on Australia’s punk movement, which operated, in the most part, undetected from the above ground music scene of the time, is a fascinating blow by blow account of how the punk movement was interwoven into what has been described as radical causes; from squatters rights to anarchy to the First Nations cause.
Using a kaleidoscope of low-fi archive, present-day interviews and punk music of its time, the film is held together by a primitive style of animation from Juliet Miranda Rowe which mirrors the punk ethos in its imagery. The interviews are, in the main, direct and revealing; virtually all those interviewed have a pretty sad story to tell of their neglected childhood, sexual abuse and drugs and violence, yet there’s little misery and much positivity in how these issues play out for individuals when they become part of the punk tribe. As one of the interviewees says, punk was a lifesaver.
Some of the featured groups were known at the time, including I Spit On Your Gravy, or X, and some were known only to aficionados, with delicious names such as Berserk Surgeons, Suicidal Tendencies and Spike Depression. The interviewees are forthcoming, and the music, which at times takes a back seat to the interviews, is presented more as the soundtrack to punk tribalism than in its own right. In particular Fiona Horne of Def FX is articulate and passionate about the inclusive nature of the movement, as distinct from its nemesis, the skinheads, and one of the reveals of the documentary is the number of female punk bands of the time including GASH, and the delightfully named Flea Thunderpussy from Liquor Snatch.
Filmmaker Ross has said that she was involved in punk music to a degree when she was at TAFE, and wanted to document punk’s heyday, before, as she puts is, everyone from the time had died.
She says that “as a young person, it shapes your view of the world. I think you wouldn’t get involved in punk if you weren’t already slightly an anarchist. That certainly cements that view of trying to make the world a place which is fair for everybody to live in” (from an interview with Andrew F. Peirce)
It’s an engaging ride around the grounds from one capital city to the next, reliving the evil of the Bjelke-Peterson goon squads in Brisbane to the violent and corrupt Kings Cross police force, following the punk pub crawls through venues such as the Prince Of Wales and the Paddington Green
Less of a romp than a pogo through Australia’s punk movement, Age of Rage is an entertaining doco that exudes enthusiasm and positivity for Australia’s punk scene. Sort of Anarchy in The Colony.
