Product Details

• Actors: Carole Bouquet, Frank J. Butler, Howard Grant, Richard Hell, Ivan Julian
• Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• DVD Release Date: March 21, 2000
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305797099
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,666 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Blank Generation" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

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