Not much of the US skateboard (sub-)culture reached me behind the iron curtain in the 1970′s when I was a kid. “Dogtown And Z-Boys” enabled me to catch up a little. Dogtown was a nickname for a part of Los Angeles/Santa Monica and also name of a skate shop. It was a dangerous place, “where you had to have eyes in the back of your head.” In this neighborhood there were lots of swimming pools in the people’s back yards. This is where members of the Zephyr skateboarding team, the Z-boys (and one Z-girl) hanged out and practiced their art. This documentary was a combination of archival footage and recent interviews with them. The movie was accompanied by Sean Penn’s impassioned, downplayed narration: he sounded like he was in such a constants awe of the Z-boys, that he couldn’t even express his admiration for them with a variation in intonation. His monotone was balanced with the soundtrack of loud rock music from the era. The director himself was one of the original Z-boys in the 1970′s. The archival footage came from wannabe Z-boys, who had to stay on the side until/if they could get in on the action.
I am happy that I filled yet another a hole in my knowledge about American pop-culture with a really well done documentary. I learned a little bit about the history of Santa Monica, in addition to beach, surf and car-culture, as the Z-boys came from a background embracing them. Like many other underground streams it, skateboarding, became mainstream and commercial. It’s good to show us its really independent and rebellious origins. The movie’s big contribution is showing I what ways the Z-boys shaped skateboarding and turned it into an art and sport from a hobby that adults looked down as yet another teen fad.
IMDB’s summary: Documentary about the pioneering 1970s Zephyr skating team.
Trailer: