It's a visually stunning film, even if the subject matter isn't hugely compelling.
Died Young, Stayed Pretty (2009)
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Reviews Counted:23
Fresh:13
Rotten:10
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Poor organization weighs down this exploration into the subculture of indie-rock poster art, Died Young, Stayed Pretty, diluting the effect of its enthusiastic energy.
Genre: Education/General Interest
Synopsis: Died Young, Stayed Pretty is a candid look at the underground poster culture in North America. This unique documentary examines the creative spirit that drives these indie graphic artists. They... Died Young, Stayed Pretty is a candid look at the underground poster culture in North America. This unique documentary examines the creative spirit that drives these indie graphic artists. They pick through the dregs of America's schizophrenic culture and piece them back together. What you end up with is a caricature of the black and bloated heart that pulses greed through the US economy. The artists push further into the pulp to grab the attention of passersby, plastering art that's both vulgar and intensely visceral onto the gnarled surfaces of the urban landscape. The film gives us intimate look at some of the giants of this modern subculture. Outside of their own circle, they're virtually unknown. But within their ranks they make up an army of bareknuckle brawlers, publicly arguing the aesthetic merits of octopus imagery and hairy 70s porn stars. They've created their own visual language for describing the spotty underbelly of western civilization and they're not shy about throwing it in the face of polite society. Along the way, they manage to create posters that are strikingly obscene, unflinchingly blasphemous and often quite beautiful. Yaghoobian shows these artists for what they are: the vivisectionists of America's morbidly obese consumer culture. --© Official Site [More]
Director: Eileen Yaghoobian
Director: Eileen Yaghoobian
Studio: Roxie Releasing
Reviews for Died Young, Stayed Pretty
Suffer the perverse undertones and this is a fitting examination of a significant yet overlooked contemporary art form.
The film reminds us of a tactile, cut-and-paste subculture that’s still alive and well in the internet age.
The equivalent of being trapped in the lift of an east London style magazine while the entire staff simultaneously shout their theories of civilisation at you, this documentary is that tragic thing.
The lack of narrative direction, exploitable drama or character growth strands the film at the level of an animated picture-book accompanied by lots of gratuitous whining.
Hampered by its director’s pretentious, self-advertising style. Eileen Yaghoobian lacks any journalistic sense of the basic information the audience needs in order to grasp what’s happening onscreen and the film is often confusing.
Eileen Yaghoobian's indulgent, cut-and-paste documentary hangs loose (and slightly awry) with the unsung titans of the concert poster.
Weird, wacky and full of arresting promo images for bands like Arcade Fire, Teengenerate and Turbonegro.
Are these cultural artifacts or just more trash littering the light posts and bulletin boards of your city? That all depends on the eye of the beholder.
It soon becomes apparent that there's no real structure or point of view to it all.
The poster makers... mine the outer limits of violence and misogyny with a garish, pop art palette.
Yaghoobian proves she has a flair for the telling detail every bit as keen as her subjects'.
Though Died Young Stayed Pretty could have used some serious streamlining, it still succeeds as a showcase for some of this decade's most arresting examples of graphic design.
It’s apparent that Eileen Yaghoobian has almost no control over Died Young, Stayed Pretty. Ostensibly, her documentary is about the demise of rock-concert poster art. But few of the artists have anything enlightening to say about their craft.
Yaghoobian's nonlinear editing is as offbeat as the posters, with non sequiturs and strange asides. She lets scenes run a few seconds longer than most directors would -- to good effect.
Unstructured and free-associative, cutting among interviews and images at breakneck speed to no discernible narrative or thematic purpose, the documentary is mercurial to the point of incoherence.
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