Beijing Punk

The concept of Shaun Jefford's rockumentary is more interesting than the result, although it does boast a sense of present-at-the-creation street cred. On the eve of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, a small punk-rock movement is active in the Chinese metropolis (mostly centered around a rock club and record labels managed by Western expats). The filmmaker and his small crew interview these rebel rockers—from bands such as Snapline, P.K. 14, The Gar, Joyside, and Demerit—who typically reject the 12-hour robotic factory ethic of their countrymen and glory in the seediness of their downscale Tongzhou neighborhood. The music is an acquired taste (and the tech credits are pretty rough, even during non-concert interviews)—although one band, Hedgehog, has a bigger fan base thanks to males gawping at its rarity: a girl drummer. Arch-punk Lei Jun, of the veteran combo Mi San Dao, says he makes more money at music than his father earns as an eye doctor. While sometimes drunk and defiant, these “punks” still have a ways to go before reaching Western-level decadence. Not interviewed here: neither conservative Chinese authorities who barely tolerate the punks, or anyone with much musicology perspective. An oddball entry for Asian-studies and world-culture shelves, this is optional. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)