Blank Generation / Dancin' Barefoot

Description

A double-feature DVD containing "Blank Generation," a 1976 film from Amos Poe and Ivan Kral, shot at CBGB's, which defines the birth of NYC Punk & New Wave and includes live pre-record performances from Blondie, The Patti Smith Group, Talking Heads, Wayne County,Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers with Richard Hell, & Television (post-Hell).Dancin' Barefoot is a look at the NY Punk scene through the eyes of Ivan Kral, who is best known as guitarist and songwriter in the Patti Smith Group. Features an in-depth look at the Patti Smith Group including live footage & interviews. Also includes footage & interviews from & Iggy Pop!

Customer Reviews:

Mixed emotions.......2004-07-23

I sure had some expectations on thid DVD. After watching the first part (N.Y. "documentary" by Kral/Poe) which was just horrible, I was about to throw the DVD in the thrashcan.
But the second part by Czech TV is excellent, specially the first bit on Patti Smith Group.
All in all, reading "Please kill me" and watching this DVD is the closest we can get to the NY-scene mid-70's I guess.

the real thing.......2004-01-20

This two-fer is a valuable video scrapbook for anyone who was there or wishes they were. "Blank Generation" was the original NY punk scene' s own low-tech home movie, made by Amos Poe and Ivan Kral with the same do-it-yourself-with-what-you-got ethos as the music by the bands it depicts. Yeah, it's raw and rough asynchronous stuff. Not a slick after-the-fact documentary, but an authentic artifact of its time and place.

"Dancing Barefoot", is a mid-90s documentary of Ivan Kral's rock and roll journey from Prague to Patti Smith Group and back. (After Patti, Ivan would go on to work with John Cale, Iggy Pop, and others.) Includes lots of excellent live footage, bearing out Tina' Weymouth's on-camera observation about Patti's unmatched charisma. There are also interviews with Patti and the rest of the band; as well as Deborah Harry, Chris Stein, David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, Johnny Ramone, John Cale, Iggy Pop, Hilly Krystal and others. Originally shot for Czech TV, this is a great companion piece to "Blank Generation" (brief excerpts of which are seen here as well).

Ivan Has A Super 8.......2002-01-28

I was hoping for more than whats here. However, since there isn't much else to be had at this point, I'll gladly take this. I am hoping for something of more quality if there is any to be had. I like the Patti Smith stuff, and I wish she would do a live concert on DVD even now.
If you are looking to catch a grainy glimpse of what it was like in a dingy club in the mid seventies, as something new was starting to unfold, then this may be worth it for you. It consists of super 8 movie footage matched up with live sound recordings of the bands. The sound isn't always in sync with what you are seeing.
There is a brief bit of the Dolls doing "Funky But Chic". You have the Ramones, Blondie, Television, Talking Heads, Heartbreakers, Marbles, Tuff Darts, Wayne County, and Shurts. The quality is less than a badly shot video, but its all we have for now. It comes off more like a book with moving pictures.
Dancing Barefoot is a documentary on Ivan Kral(that is not a bad thing either!). You get to hear him do some interesting versions of songs you may remember, and you can see what he's been up to since the Patti Smith Group. For me this was more interesting than the Blank Generation. Both will leave you wanting more.

Silent rock movie.......2001-12-22

"Blank Generation" is a documentary shot in and around CBGB's somewhere in 1976. It features bands like Taling Heads, Blondie, Patty Smith, Wayne County and many others. Most of the footage
is from the bands playing their songs.

Now the weird part: "Blank Generation" is a silent movie ! For some reason an audio track was added to the DVD version (and probably to early VHS-copies too), but in stead of the live audio it just plays album/single versions of songs by the featured artists. Everything looks hopelessly out-of-sync, but it's probably supposed to look that way. I'm not even sure if the video footage matches the songs on the audio track. It's a weird thing to watch, but certainly interesting for completists of any of the featured bands.

On the same disc is the film "Dancin' Barefoot", which features an in-depth look at The Patti Smith Group with lots of live footage and interviews from the '70s, '80s and '90s, plus live footage and interviews with David Byrne, Blondie, Iggy Pop and more. Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads are, as usual, the cutest looking couple interviewed.

long wait, blank expression...........2001-11-30

Totally thrilled when I got word that Amos Poe's much-touted documentary of the '70s NY punk scene was going to be re-released on DVD (and as a "twofer" with the documentary "Dancin' Barefoot"), I ordered it the first chance I got (read: when I had the money). It was a nice surprise when it turned up on my doorstep Friday, and just having gotten off of work, I made a cup of coffee and sat down to check it out.

Boy, was I ever duped. First off, it's not much of a documentary at all. "Documentary" in this case is a decided misnomer -(...), if Blank Generation qualifies as a documentary, "documentary" might as well become a four letter word. Given, it's a genuine delight to get to see some old footage of Television and the Ramones (and even of less touted bands like the Shirts), but what good is it when there's no one talking throughout the whole thing? The only audio is some over-dubbed stuff of medium to (...) poor quality, and while it's obvious that sometimes the song heard is the same as the one performed, the discrepancy between what's going on for the eyes and what's happening for the ears is positively annoying. Take, for instance, the sequence with Television playing "Little Johnny Jewel": the audio is that of the studio cut (yes, the single version), while the footage shown is (obviously, if you watch Tom Verlaines hands and also his face for a little lip-reading) of them playing that song live, albeit at a quicker tempo. Not too bad...until suddenly the audio cuts into a live version of "Oh Mi Amore" and it's not at all clear whether that song was being played in the footage at that time. THEN it proceeds to cut back to the last verse of "Little Johnny Jewel", AGAIN from the single. As if that's not bad enough, the camera work is sheer (...) . Lots of zoomy closeups render the footage totally useless.

As if that's not bad enough, "Dancin' Barefoot" isn't so much about the doings of the Patti Smith group as it is people like Chris Stein and Debby Harry talking about how great a guy Ivan Kral was, along with some haphazard recycling of footage from "Blank Generation". Worse yet, it's not even interesting. Ivan Kral is made out to be the guy who made the Patti Smith Group into a real rock-and-roll outfit, apparently because he looked the part, blah blah blah...

Amazon.com

More a curiosity than a meaningful artifact, Ulli Lommel's 1979 Blank Generation eschews pin-pierced cheeks and other mutilation clichés for a different look at New York's punk scene, one that more closely resembles, in all probability, the aspirations and mixed luck of a New York artist such as Richard Hell at the end of that decade. Hell (of Richard Hell and the Voidoids) plays an earnest and likable fellow named Billy, frontman for a band that's, hey, very much like the Voidoids and features the rudimentary sonic noodlings that got Hell kicked out of the now-legendary group he cofounded, Television.

A big draw at CBGB, Billy signs on with a manager to whom he eventually sells, in perpetuity, all rights to his songs and recordings for a measly $5,000. Why? Just to avoid a headache in the future, concentrate on his skills, and explore his mercurial relationship with a beautiful French journalist played by Carole Bouquet. The story has a meandering, unfocused, undisciplined movement to it, which actually furthers one's intuitive understanding of the manic-depressive cycle of Billy's romance, but finally makes Lommel look like he's squeezing out a movie instead of directing one. Hell has an unusually open aspect that runs contrary to his laconic character; it's a nice contrast, but he fares better with his ironic yelping on the title song, a punk classic. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Boring stuff.......2006-02-06

Now this is really a bad movie. Ok I Like Richard Hell...and he does appear in this movie...Carole Bouquet is beautiful but this is one unnecessary pretentious movie. It is worth it for the live segments but otherwise...

worth it for the performances and Richard Hell.......2004-02-05

In no way is this movie great "Art" but it is entertaining. Bouchet may have been beautiful, but incredibly bland while Hell was simply great fun to watch. Enjoyable, not even an arthouse winner, but still amusing and the performances are just great.

see it just to see.......2003-06-17

blank generation is a little quirky but quite good. There are a resonable amount of performance scenes which makes the film worthwhile. If you like punk music you should see this movie. There's some great footage and great sound quality. Andy Warhol's brief apperance is interesting and its just a good movie to see. Not outstanding, but good enough.

This One's For Crow, Tom Servo & Joel.......2002-10-04

When Carole Bouquet was an aspiring young French actress she accepted the starring role in this film about an egotistical, abusive rock star creep (played by Richard Hell, who previously played an egotistical, abusive rock star creep in "Smithereens").
The only way this film should be viewed is with the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 gang seated front row center. I'm sure Crow, Tom Servo, Joel and Gypsy would have some prime zingers to shoot at this depressing, pretentious piece of New York trash.

mildly interesting.......2001-10-13

I basically bought/watched this video for 2 main reasons.

1) the cameo of Andy Warhol
2) I am a guitar player

My reaction was "eeh"---the movie is so-so. I'm not a huge fan of Punk Rock anyway...interesting to see a group where the Bass player is out front as lead singer. I guess I was expecting something with a little more edge...I didn't dislike the movie,
but it never really "grabbed me" either. Warhol got his own proverbial 15 minutes (ironic!) and that was that. The NY Jewish chick/filmmaker was cute--when she dropped the silly wig.
The French girlfriend, ah well...she was just as indecisive as the lead character. Like the other reviewer here, I would have liked to have seen more footage of the band and more music.

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