What We Do Is Secret

USA, 2007, 90 min
World Premiere

Directed By: Rodger Grossman
Writers: Rodger Grossman, Michelle Baer Ghaffari
Producers: Rodger Grossman, Kevin Mann, Matthew Perniciaro
Executive Producers: Todd Traina, Michael LaFetra, Stephen Nemeth
Cinematographer: Andrew Huebscher
Editors: Ross Albert, Joel Plotch
Music: Anna Waronker
Cast: Shane West, Bijou Phillips, Rick Gonzalez, Noah Segan, Ashton Holmes, Tina Majorino

When Darby Crash blew onto the Los Angeles punk scene in 1978, he went from total anonymity to instant infamy. Lead singer of the seminal punk band The Germs, Crash was an explosive fusion of boyish mischief-maker, anarchist messiah, and suffering lost soul. With what then seemed like a half-baked scheme, Crash hand-picked an assemblage of amateur musicians and set out on his now-illustrious five-year plan to get famous and revolutionize the music world with his own brand of mind-fucking expression.

After a 10-year battle to get the fascinating and heartbreaking story of The Germs out into the world, director Rodger Grossman—who partnered with Crash's close friend Michelle Baer Ghaffari to ensure the film's veracity—has finally emerged with not just a biopic, but an intensely frank re-envisioning of a legend we're still obsessed with today. Up-and-comer Shane West fully embodies the exceedingly complicated and talented Crash, his look, singing talent, and showmanship so like the singer that he now fronts the reunited band. Supporting West in equally impressive turns are Rick Gonzalez and Bijou Phillips as bandmates Pat Smear and Lorna Doom. The concert footage is outstanding, but the heart of the film is Grossman's ability to capture the emotional complexities of the generation Crash so perfectly represented. Now a Los Angeles icon, Darby Crash burned bright and hard, the ultimate damaged son of the city.
 - Maggie Mackay

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