The Punk Kebab Documentary
unknown Colour Sound 1977 13:14

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Summary: Made in the height of punk London 1977, the film traces the subverted history of kebabs and the kebab business. The anarchy of punk feelings underlies the whole story , from their unique and spiritual discovery of kebabs to their exploitation by a clever Arab businessman and his money making enterprise. Quite a serious comedy in the end, the film is not so much about punks as it is a punk film about kebabs.
Title number: 22085
LSA ID: unknown
Description: 00:00 – 01:08 London Film School title card. Flashes of newspaper headline ‘beware of punks’. Repeated image of Queen Elizabeth II in the sea, ‘The Punk Kebab Documentary’ title comes over the top. Credits. Exterior of Buckingham Palace. Close up on a sheep. Two punks stand outside Buckingham Palace holding the sheep on a lead. They lead the sheep along the pavement outside the palace.
01:08 – 02:18 A punk band performs a song on a stage, intercut with shots of pavements.
02:18 – 03:43 A tugboat pulls a barge down the river. Close up on the drummer playing. Photo of a policeman smoking, then of John Lydon. Two punks stand outside a dry cleaner holding a newspaper. Various shots around London streets. More footage of the band intercut with shots of punks on the street and newspaper articles.
03:43 – 05:01 Two men working on a road. Letters and a newspaper are slid under a door. The film makers interview 2 boys about punks, then the sheep wearing sunglasses at a train station. A train leaves the station. Three punks sit on a baggage trolley, holding the sheep on a lead. A man interviews a train driver about punks. The punks and the sheep get onto a train and close the door behind them.
05:01 – 06:26 The train leaves the station. The three punks walk through a wooded area and sit down by a tree. Pitta bread falls from the tree with a recipe for a sheep kebab. The three punks jump on the sheep and start attacking it.
06:26 – 07:40 Pan up a sheep carcass. The three punks huddle together eating kebabs. A man walks down a path by the woods, then runs into the woods. He sees the three punks asleep under the tree. He steals a kebab wrapped in the recipe and starts eating it. The man holds up the recipe and reads it.
07:40 – 08:54 The man sits at a table on the telephone. A man in an abattoir on the telephone with meat hanging around him. Back to the man sat at the table. Men working at a butchers. Footage of mincemeat being made cut with footage of bread being made. A man loads kebab meat on to a skewer and trims it down to size, then cooked kebabs.
08:54 – 09:33 Zoom out from bread on a shelf. ‘Kebab Inn’ neon sign. The man sits at the table counting money. A man fills a kebab with salad. Various kebab shops and signs. A spread of newspapers, with the headline ‘Pound rises due to success of kebabs’ in the middle. A man puts sauce on a kebab. Back to the man at the table with his money. More kebab signs.
09:33 – 10:29 The three punks stand by a gate in the countryside listening to the radio. The man goes home and keeps dreaming about kebabs and then waking up. He then wakes up to find pitta bread all over him.
10:29 – 11:23 Kebabs are stacked up on a psychedelic background with cigarettes, money and newspaper headlines. Two hands reach in and start grabbing the kebabs. The man leans out of bed and dials the telephone. A boy stands by the man in bed as reporters hold out microphones. The boy spoons water into the man’s mouth and starts to cry.
11:23 – 13:13 Shot from behind of three people sit on a sofa watching TV eating pitta bread. Close up on the TV. Shot of the three men sat on the sofa eating. Back to the TV. Three punks are interviewed about kebabs. Various shots of punks on the street cut with photographs of riots. A punk in a park takes a bite out of a pitta and then throws it on the ground and spits it out. He finds a gun on the floor. Photograph of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip. The punk holds the gun out and turns topoint it at the camera. Credits and end card.
Credits: Pedro Rojas (Director); Carl Haber (Editor); Bernard Nussbaumer (Producer); Robert Frei (Camera operator)
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