End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones is a 2003 documentary film about highly influential New York punk rock band the Ramones. The film, produced and directed by Jim Fields and Michael Gramaglia, documents the band's history from their formation in the early 1970s and 22 subsequent years of touring, to their 1996 breakup and the deaths of two of the four original members. The title is taken from the Ramones' 1980 album, End of the Century. Johnny Ramone died shortly after its release. In 2015, director Jim Field made the documentary freely available on his Vimeo account.[1]

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones
Promotional poster for the documentary
Directed byJim Fields
Michael Gramaglia
Produced byDiana Holtzberg
Andrew Hurwitz
Jan Rofekamp
Jim Fields
Michael Gramaglia
StarringThe Ramones
Rob Zombie
CinematographyDavid Bowles
Jim Fields
John Gramaglia
Michael Gramaglia
Peter Hawkins
George Seminara
Edited byJim Fields
John Gramaglia
Distributed byMagnolia Pictures (USA)
Tartan Films (UK)
Release date
  • January 19, 2003 (2003-01-19) (Slamdance Film Festival)
  • August 20, 2004 (2004-08-20) (United States)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Overview

The film tells the story of the Ramones from their beginnings in Forest Hills, Queens and earliest performances at New York's CBGB's to their unexpected induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. It features comprehensive and candid interviews with members Dee Dee Ramone (who died in 2002), Johnny Ramone (who died a few months later) Joey Ramone (who died in 2001), Marky Ramone, C.J. Ramone, Tommy Ramone, Richie Ramone, and Elvis Ramone. Others close to the band are also interviewed, including Joey's mother and brother, contemporaries such as Debbie Harry and Joe Strummer, and childhood friends of the members. The filmmakers first attempted to make the film in 1994 to document the final year of the band on the road but ran into difficulties with the band's management. Fields and Gramaglia successfully restarted the production in 1998 after the band had officially retired.

A rough cut of End of the Century premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2003, with its run-time subsequently shortened by nearly one hour. The final and completed version of the film didn't appear until February 2004 at the Berlin Film Festival and the film was released in the U.S. in August 2004.

Even though the talk during the South American scenes is about Brazil, both the "mob scene" and the TV presentation take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the mob scene, the kids chase the Ramones car down Carlos Pellegrini street, 100 meters north of the Obelisco landmark.

The Argentine presenter is Mario Pergolini. An observant viewer noticed that at 1:06:20 mins - 1:06:31 mins the 2 studio musicians for Phil Spector are reading off of cue cards (watch the guy on the right). Spector, who had a falling out with the Ramones due to mistreating the group, would later be imprisoned.

References
  1. Fields, Jim (2015-07-26), End of The Century: The Story of The Ramones, retrieved 2020-06-08


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