Coming to Showtime tomorrow, Thursday, December 13:
GG ALLIN: ALL IN THE FAMILY
Director:
Sami Saif
Premiere:
CPH:DOX 2017 (under original title THE ALLINS: ONE HELL OF A FAMILY)
Select Festivals:
Melbourne, Bergen, Cinedelphia, L’Étrange, Doc’n Roll, Rokumentti, Sound Unseen, Sydney Underground
About:
The mother and brother of the infamous punk musician keep his memory alive.
Notorious for his outrageous gross-out behavior onstage, punk rocker GG Allin developed a cult following which was only bolstered after his death by heroin overdose in 1993. Twenty-five years later, fans regularly desecrate his grave to show their appreciation – something that Allin’s mother, Arleta is sick of dealing with. She wants people to know her son’s sweeter, more sensitive side, rather than the extreme public persona he created. Arleta’s other son, Merle, on the other hand, seems more than happy to perpetuate that character and his music through their band The Murder Junkies. Sami Saif’s film is most intriguing when focused on Arleta and Merle, and exploring Allin’s personal side, but gets a bit too caught up in revisiting the by now more familiar public story of the performer, losing focus and its unique perspective in the process.
what (not) to doc 