Documentary Notes: The Punk Singer

Synopsis: The Punk Singer is a 2013 documentary film directed by filmmaker Sini Anderson and produced by Anderson and Tamra Davis. The film is about feminist singer Kathleen Hanna who fronted the bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, and who was a central figure in the riot grrrl movement. 

My Notes:

I remember when this film was first campaigning for money through Kickstarter. I knew of Sini Anderson through her involvement with Queer spoken word groups in San Francisco. The campaign was successful, she made the movie, and everything should have been great after IFC bought the movie. However, she had a lot of issues with supporters from Kickstarter when she didn't send out the rewards beyond the first tier (lesson to be learned... budget!) 

The Film:

Like the previous film that I reviewed, The Punk Singer was a documentary about an important figure in the 90's music scene (and beyond). Kathleen Hannah was the lead singer of Riot Grrl band - Bikini Kill and electro-pop feminist band, Le Tigre.  

The film was well edited with music and performances bringing you and in and out of interviews. Like the Hit So Hard documentary, it was a who's who of feminist rock idols... Kim Gordon, Joan Jett, Carrie Brownstein and more women were interviewed and discussed their admiration and the important way that Kathleen made it possible for women to feel safe at rock shows. Women up front was a constant call at Le Tigre shows and men were ushered out the door if they didn't comply. 

I keep comparing this film to Hit So Hard because it has so many of the same elements. The interviews, the way that performance footage is intermixed with intimate interviews with the subjects themselves. . .

In the middle of the doc, there was even a great segment about the history of feminism. 1800s, 2nd wave, 3rd wave, Rebecca walker speech. 

1992 - Feminism was supposedly dead according to Time magazine, and has someone said, Kathleen was this angry bisexual grrl who used her sexuality and power to make people listen. 

There was also a great clip from an interview in Bust magazine with Kathleen Hanna and Gloria Steinem.  They talked about how women were always pitted against each other in the media. How the media twisted feminism. There was so much hate towards Kathleen. Again, this is pre social networking. I can't even imagine what would happen if Bikini Kill happened today. Would she get death threats and other crap that feminists have to deal with today?

The film takes a severe turn into depressing events. . .

Throughout the movie we had music backing up every interview. . . 

Then... the music stops... and Kathleen starts crying. 

Before this we saw Kathleen getting sick from something, but nobody knew what it was. 

She finally figured it out. She had late stage lyme disease. 

She finally had doctors who took the time to figure it out. 

There is a really amazing scene later on when she takes her medicine and has her husband (Beastie Boys' Adam Horoviz) film her while her body is reacting to the medicine. It was one of the most uncomfortable scenes that I have ever watched. It was so raw. . .and sad... 

The film ended up on a high note as she performed (after feeling better) in NYC at a benefit. 

Overall, yes, I was very interested in the topic, and yes, Sini Anderson had ACCESS. I don't think this film could have had any chance of being as interesting if she didn't have access to the subjects. It could have been a nice history lesson on Riot Grrl Culture, but without the interviews with Kathleen, especially, this film couldn't have been made.