“THE PUNK SINGER” My rating: B (Opens Dec. 20 at the Tivoli)
80 minutes | No MPAA rating
I was already too old to appreciate the punk scene in its prime, and while a few days ago the name Kathleen Hanna might have triggered the briefest flicker of recognition in my reptilian brain, I couldn’t tell you why.
But “The Punk Singer,” the new documentary about the singer/songwriter behind the essential punk bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre is so good — and Hanna herself such a compelling figure — that I might have to consider her a new obsession.
Drawing on vintage video footage and newly captured interviews, Sini Anderson’s documentary traces Hanna’s career from college artist in the Pacific Northwest to underground sensation to something verging on mainstream acceptance.
Hanna was a riveting performer, musical but with plenty of attitude and a voice that could peel paint. She was fun to watch, bounding all over the stage.
Her songs were angry anthems that dissected the boys’ club that was punk. Here was a feminist who took the language and sound of the oppressor (mosh pits, anyone?) and turned it against them, singing about rape, abuse, sexuality, patriarchy and, oh yeah, female empowerment.
It wasn’t just music. Hanna was instrumental in the creation and nurturing of the Riot Grrrl movement, which found voice not only in song but in grass-roots fanzines. Her influence even extended to fashion.
And then, in 2005, Hanna vanished from the scene. The film reveals that she had been suffering for years from a debilitating condition. Finally it was diagnosed as Lyme disease (she could recall being bitten by a tick many years before); today Hanna (who is married to the Beastie Boys’ Adam Horovitz) is slowly rebuilding her life and tentatively dipping her toe back in the musical pool.
This is an essential portrait of a smart, talented and, yes, sexy woman whose greatest contributions, I hope, are still ahead of her.
| Robert W. Butler
Butler's Cinema Scene 