End Of The Century
How good would it be if there was a film about the Ramones ?
That's a question
First off you think "It would be GREAT !"
Then you think, hmm, they'd have to speak to all the main players if they want the story told, even guys like Richie Ramone and Walter Lure, they'd need a lot of archive footage, they'd need a lot of research"
Well, the team behind
End Of The Century have done it and it came out in the USA in August 2004 and I got to see it in Edinburgh at the film festival around then and then www.raindance.co.uk showed the film in London in October where it won the best debut film award
"The first night I watched it, I thought, 'Whoa, this is dark.' It actually disturbed my sleep. If someone asked, 'Did you guys get along?' I'd say no. But seeing a whole movie dedicated to our not getting along? It's like we we're a bunch of nuts !" - Johnny Ramone
Now its getting a release in the UK
Trailer links - 30k low quality - 100k medium quality - 330k high quality - take your pick
QuickTime
Real Player
Windows Media Player
I spoke to Jim Fields one of the directors and this is what he had to say to my 10 questions
1. Do you remember where/when you first saw/heard the Ramones ? Can you remember your first impressions of them ? What were you listening to before that ?
>>>>>>>In 1979 my sister brought home "Rocket to Russia". At that point I was really into music but was searching to move on from my Beatlemania and the Stones (I was 15 years old). I just didn't like the stuff other kids were listening to. I got involved with a bad crowd and part of fitting in meant you had to love Black Sabbath (the later stuff...like "Technical Ecstasy") or the Eagles "Hotel California". I hated that shit.
So when I saw that really cool cover to Rocket to Russia and then opened it up and saw John Holmstrom's hilarious cartoons, I thought...this looks like something new and good. I fell in love with the music right away. But I was a sheltered suburban kid and had no idea that there was "punk" music or what that meant.
I just loved the music.
2. The Ramones were always cursed in a way, English punk stealing their thunder, no hit singles in the USA even though they toured everywhere constantly and even their biggest hit in Europe (Baby I Love You) only served to alienate many of their natural fanbase - do you think the curse carried on to the movie ? did you think about quitting after Joey died ?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>I have a multi-layered answer to this question. First, I discovered why the Ramones had such a hard time making it. A large part was external to the band. As we examined in the film, the American press was afraid of them for a host of reasons. But having experienced the inner-workings of the band I realized that their own personalities and visions for the band was both their greatness and their downfall. These guys were very street, unlike the other bands from CB's who went on to the big sales. Blondie and the Talking Heads were upper-middle class intellectuals. They were savvy with the press and with their negotiations with their management and record companies. Also, the Ramones were really dysfunctional and paranoid. That stuff can easily overwhelm a band and its management. The Ramones weren't sophisticated in a lot of ways. They were like a classic garage-band...but more. They had ambitions to be stars but their characters just weren't made that way. They were real and that authenticity made their music great but was, in my opinion, the cause of their "curse". They were, in a large part, responsible for their own failures, in my opinion. Yet it was their failings that also made them such a brilliant band.
As for the curse being about death... Well, they lived life hard. Every one of them. So maybe they just burned out young. It's not like they were accountants in the mid-west. They pushed themselves so hard physically and emotionally for over 22 years.
That's got to take its toll.
3. You must've listened to every interview and watched every clip you could find during the making of this film - do you ever play the Ramones for pleasure any more ?
>>>>>>>>>Yes, I do. I still listen to those first four albums, especially. They're brilliant and I've turned on so many people to them.
4. There's a lot of interesting guests in the film, including one of Joe Strummers final interviews - was there anyone you wanted to speak to but couldn't get for any reason ?
>>>>>>>>We really wanted to speak to Richard Hell but he wouldn't do it unless we paid him a thousand dollars. We had no money so we had to pass. Also, the Ramones first rehearsed with a guy named Richie Stern on bass. We tried everything we could to locate him. The closet we got was word through a friend of his sister's that he was MIA...strung out somewhere.
Also we campaigned painfully hard to interview Phil Spector. His answer came through Rodney Bingenheimer: "No fucking way."
5. I imagine there's a lot of stories and performances that you have that didn't make it to the final cut - any favourites that couldn't make it ? will there be an extended DVD version ?
>>>>>>>Well, the It's Alive concert is amazing. But that is going to come out as its own DVD sometime next year (at least that's what I hear).
6. The film has been getting rave reviews, often from people who have little or no previous knowledge of the band - this must be satisfying for your first feature film - was it a worry that it would only appeal to a more select audience ?
>>>>Our focus was to reach non-fans. We just wanted to make this documentary a film that would stand up on its own as a film.
That meant it had to be dramatically interesting and moving. We always saw this more as film for any audience rather than a tribute piece. I think we achieved at least a humble part of that objective. However, it will never transcend the subjects-the Ramones. Ultimately it will be seen as a music doc about the Ramones and not just a doc. But that's fine. As long as it can work on both levels...for the fan and the general filmgoer, we're happy.
7. You've all got a good background in various areas of film making - did you decide to make a film and then choose the Ramones as your subject or was it just a story that needed told ?
>>>>>It was the latter. Of course being in the film biz we had dreams of trying to make a feature film someday. But we had this relationship with the band. We knew the inside story and when we started the Ramones had been forgotten. We felt we really should make this film and that it was worthy of a feature-length theatrical format. We weren't the most experienced people in the world and we knew we were up against a lot of our own limitations as inexperienced filmmakers as well many other external obstacles. But we just felt that the material was there and there was no one around who was going to make this film. And all the things made for them or about them had been done through their management and they were lame...stuff that, in my opinion, perpetuated this "dumb" image of the band.
8. Oddly enough for a band that were almost ignored by the mainstream in America through the years, the Ramones are more mainstream now that they are gone, ironically at least the T-shirts are everywhere (often worn by people who don't have a clue about the Ramones) and its cool to cite them as an influence - is part of the intention of this film to widen that appreciation even further, or is it to set the record straight ?
>>>>>>>Yeah, the Ramones is now a brand name unlike any other band name. The Ramones have become a part of American culture in that way that is almost indescribable but in a way we all understand. No one really knew what they were/are or who they were/are. Are they a cartoon or a joke...a half joke? Are they worth even thinking about? What the hell is this "brand" that is so pervasive in our culture and why/how did it get to be this way?
Our answer was/is: They're very human and recognizable characters yet completely unique and original. We wanted to explore the superficial "brand" of the Ramones because we knew how deep their story and their music really was. And this would be the only way they could be really appreciated and understood...to show them warts and all. You know, they're like the Blues. They lived their music and they were totally authentic. So the emotions behind the silly lyrics was as raw and angry as Johnny's guitar. It's a weird and complex band/group of people stuck with each other for 22 years.
9. Its getting a theatrical release in the USA in August 2004 - will there be a theatrical release in Europe/elsewhere ?
>>>Right now I'm only aware of a theatrical release and then DVD in the U.K. and Japan (sometime in the fall of '04). Probably in the rest of the world it will be TV and DVD only.
10. what's next for the team behind "End Of The Century" ?
>>>>>>>Vacation.
Photo of Jim Fields by Dominic Thackray