D.O.A.: A Right of Passage

Director: Lech Kowalski Lech Kowalski

Overview

Though principally a documentary of the Sex Pistols' 1978 American tour (the only one they did with Sid Vicious), Lech Kowalski's early-'80s film D.O.A. also covers the early punk scene as a whole. There is much footage of other early (and mostly British) punk bands, filmed far away from the Pistols' American tour, and interviews with other figures associated with the early punk scene. The Sex Pistols are seen performing much of their classic early repertoire in clubs and concert halls throughout the South, as well as at their final show in San Francisco. Other influential bands seen in the film include the Clash, the Dead Boys, the Rich Kids (with ex-Sex Pistol Glen Matlock), X-Ray Spex, Generation X, and Sham 69. There is extensive interview footage with Sid Vicious and his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, shortly before their violent deaths, and scenes from the short life of failed British pub punk band Terry and the Idiots. Also included are interviews with members of the audience at the Sex Pistols shows, illustrating how reaction to the group ran the gamut from enthusiasm to venomous disapproval.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/18/2019
UPC:	0760137204190
Original Release:	1981
Source:	Mvd Rewind
Region Code:	A
Language:	English
Time:	1:35:00
Sales rank:	44,929

Special Features

Dead On Arrival: The Punk Documentary That Almost Never Was" - a feature length documentary about the making of D.O.A.: A Rite of Passage produced by award-winning filmmaker (and former MTV senior producer) Richard Schenkman and featuring exclusive new interviews with PUNK Magazine founder and Ramones cover-artist John Holmstrom, renowned music journalist Chris Salewicz, legendary photgrapher Roberta Bayley, Sex Pistols'; historian Mick O'Sea, former Rich Kid guitarist and Ultravox lead singer Midge Ure, and original D.O.A. crew members David King, Mary Killen, Rufus Standefer, plus never-before-seen interview footage of Pistols founder Malcolm McLaren.; Photo gallery; Original theatrical trailer (3:48)

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Dead Boys	Primary Artist
Sham 69	Primary Artist
The Clash	Primary Artist
Generation X	Primary Artist
Sex Pistols	Primary Artist
Augustus Pablo	Primary Artist
The Rich Kids	Primary Artist
X-Ray Spex	Primary Artist
Iggy Pop	Primary Artist
Lech Kowalski	Director

Technical Credits

Lech Kowalski	Director,Producer
Tom Forcade	Producer
Steven Menkin	Producer
Lee "Scratch" Perry	Composer
Paul Cook	Composer
Dave Guy Parsons	Composer
Glen Matlock	Composer
X-Ray Spex	Performer
David Bowie	Composer
Sex Pistols	Performer
The Rich Kids	Performer
Poly Styrene	Composer
Generation X	Performer
Dead Boys	Performer
Jimmy Pursey	Composer
The Clash	Performer
Billy Idol	Composer
Augustus Pablo	Performer
Tony James	Composer
Lech Kowalski	Producer
Iggy Pop	Performer,Composer
Junior Murvin	Composer
Steve Jones	Composer
Sham 69	Performer
Johnny Rotten	Composer

Editorial Reviews

Though it's sensationalistic and cinematically sloppy, Lech Kowalski's 90-minute documentary is invaluable at the least for including so much footage of the Sex Pistols on their ill-fated 1978 American tour. It's a tour that was more historic than anyone probably envisioned at the time -- this was, after all, the only time they toured the States with the Sid Vicious lineup, and they'd implode immediately after its finish. Even if neither the camerawork nor the sound are top-notch, you get to see the band doing fierce live versions of classics from their early singles and first album to a quite volatile reception from the Southern clubgoers that comprised their primary audience on the seven-city tour. You also see footage from their final concert in San Francisco, complete with Johnny Rotten's famous concluding remark, "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?" Interviews with members of the audience convey just how strong the reaction was to the group at the time -- quite literally violently negative, less often enthusiastic, and quite often simply uncomprehending and bewildered. Perhaps some might wish that there was more focus on the band and less haphazard cutting to performances in England by other groups, as well as interviews with assorted punk scenemakers. Yet it does give viewers the chance to see more valuable, if again hardly pristine-looking or -sounding, footage of bands like the Clash, Sham 69, X-Ray Spex (doing "Oh Bondage Up Yours!"), the Rich Kids (with ex-Pistols bassist Glen Matlock), and Generation X -- though the scenes with no-hope British punkers Terry and the Idiots aren't as entertaining. The film is also notorious for its extended interview sequences with Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, in which the ultimate doomed punk couple are filmed in their bedroom. With Spungen screeching at Vicious for his failure to keep awake while the interview's actually in process, it's a vivid record of their troubled relationship -- and the film as a whole is an important, if flawed, document of the early punk explosion.