Customer Reviews

The Gits

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One of the countless bands that migrated to Seattle during the city's brief and shining heyday as America's D.I.Y Mecca was a quartet hailing from Ohio, who called themselves The Gits (in honor of a Monty Python sketch). Led by talented singer-songwriter Mia Zapata, the band mixed the musical tightness and aggressive melodic punch of L.A.'s X with the art-punk lyricism of San Francisco's Romeo Void. Zapata's powerful, bluesy Janis Joplin-meets-Exene Cervenka vocal delivery and charismatic stage presence made her a formidable front woman, and the band quickly gained a strong local following. They also soon gained the attention of local music producers, and were on the verge of being courted by some of the major labels, when it all came crashing to earth with a resounding thud. In the summer of 1993, Mia Zapata was beaten, raped and killed, her body unceremoniously dumped in a vacant lot. Her murder remained unsolved until an astounding break in the case in 2003 helped bring her killer to justice (thanks to a carefully preserved saliva sample taken from the crime scene and advancements in DNA forensics technology). Her frighteningly random and brutal murder not only had a profoundly disheartening and long-lasting effect on Seattle's incestuous music community, but at the time, symbolically represented the beginning of the end for the city's burgeoning music renaissance; it was sort of the grunge era's Altamont, if you will.

In a new documentary simply entitled The Gits (available on DVD) super-fans and first time filmmakers Kerri O'Kane (director) and Jessica Bender (producer) have constructed an engrossing, genuinely moving portrait of the band and Zapata's legacy. When O'Kane and Bender were doing initial research for their project, they starting snapping up all the Gits memorabilia they could get their hands on, acquiring much of it via eBay, and mostly through one particular seller. That person turned out to be the band's drummer, who was beginning to wonder who these two particularly obsessed fans were. This serendipity eventually led to the full cooperation of all the surviving band members, after they were fully assured that O'Kane and Bender weren't a couple of weird stalker fan types. This was a legitimate concern due to the fact that Zapata's killer was then still unknown and presumably still at large. Thus began a six year labor of love for the pair.

The first half of the film is devoted to the history of the band, beginning with their formation at Antioch College in Ohio in 1986. By the time they moved to Seattle in 1989, the band had developed a sonic sensibility that was more simpatico with classic punk rock than it was to the trendy "grunge" sound of the time (speaking strictly as an "old school" rock fan, grunge always sounded like warmed-over Blue Cheer or Sabbath to me, while punk was closer to the spirit of The MC5 and The Ramones). O'Kane does a nice job encapsulating their Seattle years with well-chosen performance clips and archival photos. Interviews with the band, some of their friends and members of Mia's family are supplemented by recollections from professional peers like Joan Jett and members of 7 Year Bitch, an all-female Seattle band who were generously mentored by the Gits (and ironically, signed by a major label long before their more musically accomplished mentors were "discovered" themselves). The music business is a harsh mistress, indeed.

The second half of the film deals with Zapata's death. Much to their credit, the filmmakers don't exploit the sensationalistic aspects of the crime or dwell on all the gory details of the murder itself. Instead, they take the high road and examine the profound effect her loss had on her family, friends, fans and fellow members of the music community. The sensitive and respectful handling of the latter part of the story ultimately accentuates what lies at the heart of a film that could have been a real downer: an inspiring portrait of a group of close friends truly committed to each other, their music and their fans. With all the soulless pap oozing from the music charts and Stepford Idol marionettes warbling their glorified karaoke at us from our Empty Vee these days, it's enough to give one a glimmer of hope that, somewhere out there in the ether, there will always be someone making Music That Matters (well, I can always dream, can't I?)

I bought this film after having been introduced to the music of THE GITS only a few scant weeks earlier. As I rapidly developed a strong affinity for their music and had done a bit of research into their history, I was quite eager to see this documentary. Let me say that I was not disappointed. Far from it. I was amazed.

This is a powerful film about a band that would have been huge were it not for the tragic murder of their singer Mia Zapata. I suppose that what impressed me most about this film is that it deftly avoided falling into the trap of making the film about Mia and her murder. That of course is covered, in heartbreaking, tear jerking fashion, but this film, as a whole, is a celebration of the time four good friends spent with one another, the music they made, and the impact they had (the profound impact) on those around them.

I would recommend this film for anyone who has an appreciation for music and, more broadly, anyone who has a heartbeat and a soul. It's required viewing.

This is a must see and own video to go along side the classics like Woodstock, the Doors, Janis and Hendrix. Although not well known to the rest of America, its obvious that the Gits were up and coming and would have made it big. With a twist of fate that not even Hollywood could have thought up, their dreams, but worse than that Mia's life, was cut short and her band, family and friends worlds changed in a matter of minutes.
Many great live concert shots, stories and music to enjoy. Get it, watch it and wonder what would have been and what WE missed out on.

This is a great documentary of the life of Mia Zapata. She was an incredible singer/lyricist whose life was cut short. This movie is a great tribute to her life.

I don't dislike punk but I wouldn't consider myself a huge fan either. I hadn't heard of the Gits until a neighbor gave me The Gits DVD to watch. It's a great documentary! The story is well done and gives any music fan some amazing insight into early '90s music scene in Seattle. The soulful voice of Mia and the passion from the rest of the band helps tell the sad story of the band's rise and ultimate fall with the tragic death of Mia.

I will say now that I'm a fan of The Gits!

I'd highly recommend this movie for music fans of any genre and movie fans who enjoy a well told true story.

What an amazing group of people and an amazing band, with an amazing singer gone too soon. Its a great testiment to The Gits and Mia Zapata. The documentary was well done.

to say they were seattle sound, punk/blues, a great american rock band. you just cant pigeon hold the gits. so many bands play music that frankly sounds the same, which makes you get tired of them once the "wow" factor wears off.
the gits werent like that. everything was different. unpredicable. the only things you could predict is that its gonna be great, chances are mias gonna pop out with some quirky one liner joke that you may or may not get, and its gonna have soul. you just cant help but be affected. one of the many things i love about the gits is that i dont get tired of them.. ever. the style changes. i think mia could have sang anything. any style of music.
ive been into 7 Year B**ch since i was 15 (im 31 now). Selene Vigils raw voice had me the first time i ever heard "scratch". anyhow being that todays music pretty much sucks and is squeeky and overly polished, i go back to the good stuff. well, bein that i was 13 and on the other side of the u.s. i missed the gits and getting back into 7 Year B**ch i found out about the gits.
this documentary is sad but not only. its not only old shows but interviews with friends, bands affected and mias family. its not all sadness but the funny stories of her life. you really learn alot about the band and the closeness in it. you learn that mia couldnt drive, hardly at all but would sucker people into letting her drive their cars. i was cracking up over that one. it shows alot of old stories of them, their life. there are also some really sad parts seeing how a sensless crime killed both and band and especially a talented lovable young woman in a very violent and traumatic way leaving her raped beaten and strangled to death at such a young age. and a search for a monster that didnt come to an end for eleven years.

i love this documentary. for the music, for the stories. for getting a grasp of when the music scene was still great.

I had my misgivings about watching this film. When Mia was killed I was devastated, and if it had been exploitative it would have put me off. Luckily it was handled beautifully, with the movie being more than half exclusively about the band and how they were part of the burgeoning punk scene in Seattle. I particularly loved the interviews with Joe Spleen, who is just an amazing and under-rated musician. Also the obscene amount of live footage they dug up is incredible! A well crafted, moving roc-doc, and a film that I believe would be enjoyed by nearly anyone, Gits fan or not. A definite must see.

Gotta tell ya... I had been avoiding this for a long time just cause I did not wanna feel that anger and sadness all over again. I was right. If you are a fan of the Gits this may dredge up some pain for you. But... After seeing it and hearing all that amazing music again and Mia singing made it VERY cathartic and worth any issues I had in dealing with it all these years later. Man I was like 26 at the time it ended. I miss this band and Mia's voice in my head SO much!
Buy this! Watch it! Listen to it! REPEAT as needed!
KLF

The Gits documentary... Wow. Just wow. It was amazing. It was beautiful. It has amazing, beautiful people. Talented people. Not a lot of talent going around in punk -that's kind of the point of punk, really- but the music here was great. And if you're thinking "I don't want to watch an hour long documentary about a murder," only the last 20 minutes or so are about her murder and everything that happened afterward, so you can not watch that if you want, but that part is really good, too.

It was especially great, personally, for me to see the end, because all I knew about The Gits was some brief information about Evil Stig and why they existed when I was doing a profile on Joan Jett for speech class. Which apparently was about two years after her attacker/rapist/murderer was finally found, but at the time I started watching the doc I was still under the impression that it had remained unsolved. So it was really great to see that.

Sad tears and happy tears. But, most of all, an amazing women surrounded by amazing people, producing amazing music with an amazing bad. You MUST watch this film.