Band’s story keeps its punk rock cred
There’s never been a rock ’n’ roll movie quite like “The Icarus Line Must Die.” A mostly autobiographical recreation of a cult L.A. punk band’s last days — shot in a shaggy style reminiscent of Allison Anders’ indie classic “Border Radio” — the movie is only intermittently successful at blurring the lines between art and life. But it’s a sincerely felt experiment, and it has spirit.
Directed by Michael Grodner, and written by and starring the Icarus Line’s frontman Joe Cardamone, the film dramatizes Cardamone’s hopes and struggles, right before he called it quits. Aside from an out-ofplace subplot about a stalker, “The Icarus Line Must Die” skews toward neorealism, with scripted versions of the kinds of conversations musicians have when they’re hanging out.
The cast consists of nonactors: including punk legend Keith Morris and writer Jerry Stahl as themselves, and young indie rockers Ariel Pink and Annie Hardy as colorful weirdos. Their inexperience means “The Icarus Line Must Die” is far from polished. The black-andwhite images look crisp, but the dialogue and performances are stiff.
Nevertheless, the film is filled with wonderfully unruly and exciting music — including from Hardy, singing a song drawn from personal tragedy. Mostly, Grodner and Cardamone capture how rock ’n’ roll is a grind of creative fervor and commercial compromise, where the biggest plans are undone by the need to have flaky musicians execute them. “The Icarus Line Must Die.” Not rated. Running time: 1 hour, 22 minutes. Playing: Starts Friday, Laemmle Royal, West L.A.