Directors/Writers: Allison Anders, Dean Lent, Kurt Voss
Cinematography: Dean Lent
Starring: Chris D., Luanna Anders, John Doe, Dave Alvin
Studio/Run Time: Criterion Collection, 87 mins.
Original Release Date: 1987
“Who wants the mainstream?” an old geezer opines down in Mexico, a question that indie ?lm director Allison Anders and her cast of L.A. punk rockers must’ve also asked while working on her 1987 debut, Border Radio. Shot in the wastelands of Calexico, UCLA grad ?lm student Anders and her cast and crew employed an underground punk aesthetic to this 16mm movie, at once loose, cramped, gritty and semi-improvised. The plot hinges on the heist of a local club by three musicians (including The Flesheaters’ Chris D. and X guitarist John Doe), but soon falls asunder as the movie bogs down in dialogue about how “the scene” has changed and bickering indie-rock politics (something that continues, full-throttle, to this day). Aside from the dusty soundtrack, the black-and-white celluloid is itself the highlight, capturing all the sun-baked rawness of a desert purgatory as emotionally barren as the ?lm itself.