Showtimes & Tickets Enter Zip Code:

END OF THE CENTURY: THE STORY OF THE RAMONES
Directed by: Michael Gramaglia & Jim Fields.
Produced by: Michael Gramaglia, Jim Fields, Rosemary Quigley, George Seminara & Chinagraph NYC.
Director of Photography: David Bowles, et al.
Edited by: John Gramaglia & Jim Fields.
Released by: Magnolia Pictures.
Country of Origin: USA. 108 min. Not Rated.
With: The Ramones.

It's hard to imagine how the Ramones must have sounded when they started blasting out their aggressive punk miniatures during the Ford Administration. They had such an impact on subsequent music that the revolutionary explosiveness of their work no longer delivers the same shock. But Michael Gramaglia and Jim Fields' documentary End of the Century gives you a good idea, as it charts the band's long career, from its beginnings as a loser's hobby in Queens, to its bittersweet induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. (Lead singer Joey Ramone died two years earlier, and bassist Dee Dee Ramone would die soon after.) It's essentially a hard luck story, as the band watched their imitators achieve the mainstream success they craved. And the film also reveals incredible tensions that would have broken up any other band: stolen girlfriends, drug addiction, wildly different political beliefs, and a confrontation with a gun-wielding Phil Spector.

This is a pretty raw documentary. The footage itself, especially the uncomfortable close-ups, gives it a stripped-down, lo-fi feel. But this is entirely suited to the Ramones. The DIY, spontaneous style of the documentary is more appropriate than any slick, corporate production ever could be, since untutored performance and offhand brilliance were the Ramones' calling cards. Gramaglia and Fields give all of their interviewees time to breathe, recording the shrugs, eye-rolls, and silences that reveal as much as any comment. And they spend the right amount of time on the different stages of the Ramones' career. The early, seminal days get the most attention, while the ‘80s and ‘90s are deftly and swiftly navigated.

Ultimately, the Ramones themselves ensure this film's success. First, there's the music, which the filmmakers artfully withhold until they've established the intricacy and banality of the seventies-pop surrounding it. (This includes hilarious footage from an Emerson, Lake, and Palmer concert.) As a result, their first album comes on like a call to arms (which, in some ways, it literally was.) But the Ramones themselves are engaging and funny, and are all entirely distinctive. Going from goofball Joey to sensible Tommy, the film has a sort of Marx Brothers dynamism. This helps End of the Century become more than required viewing for fans: It also documents an essential chapter of 20th century popular culture. Arthur Vaughan
August 17, 2004