1991: The Year Punk Broke Screens At Hot Docs

By Less Lee Moore

The title of this film—which documented the 1991 European club festival tour of Sonic Youth, a pre-world-famous Nirvana, and other bands—was intended as an ironic comment on the music industry. Although the film came out in 1992 and it was released on VHS shortly thereafter, it is still not available on DVD. How is this possible?

“It’s not on DVD because the rock & roll industry is full of shit,” quips filmmaker David Markey. “There I said it. Also, I totally blame Lady Gaga and her fans,” he adds sarcastically. In fact, Markey prepared a “deluxe” DVD package in 2004, including bonus live performances by Sonic Youth and Nirvana, audio commentary by Markey and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, and a 2003 panel discussion of the film at the Arclight in Hollywood with Markey, Moore, and others.

Yet legal rights issues (including those with The Ramones and—no shock here—Courtney Love) have prevented the film’s release on DVD. Multi-media conglomerate and eater of souls Universal Music Group inherited the rights to the film when they swallowed Interscope, itself a hybrid of Geffen and A&M.

So basically, unless you’ve got a copy of 1991: The Year Punk Broke on a now out-of-print VHS tape (or Laserdisc!) you can’t see it anywhere, save for a few select screenings, like the one happening this weekend in Toronto, as part of the Hot Docs Festival.

Not having seen the film myself since the mid-90s, I can tell you that its legend looms large in my mind. Granted, I’m a fan of Mr. Markey’s work already, but The Year Punk Broke is worth seeing for many reasons.

First, the film was a totally DIY effort, with Markey serving as filmmaker, crew, and editor, and shooting the whole thing on Super 8. Since he was not some hired gun, but a fan and friend of several of the bands involved, the film has the kind of authentic feel that is missing from other, perhaps more well-known music documentaries, not to mention the truly goofy and hilarious antics and comments courtesy of Thurston Moore. There is an interesting dichotomy between the already-established Sonic Youth and the burgeoning success of Nirvana; you get to witness the band in a somewhat innocent and raw state of being, before fame thrust them onto the world stage and things spun out of control.

1991: The Year Punk Broke will screen at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, May 1 at the Bloor Street Cinema. It will be presented by Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham, who calls it, “the most important film I ever saw.” Find out how to get tickets here.

Be sure and check out David Markey’s tour diary of the film on the We Got Power Films website. And don’t forget to join the MySpace and Facebook pages devoted to getting the film out on DVD.