Under the Underground review – punky doc gets deep down with the Viennese music scene

Angela Christlieb’s film captures the anarchic spirit of the musical collective based in the mad scientist’s lair of electronic equipment known as Janka Industries

With the fuzzy whirring of electrical machines in its underground cocoon, Janka Industries recording studio is a universe away from the hustle and bustle of Vienna. Sound equipment, retro monitors and miscellaneous gadgets sprawl into every nook, and the space resembles some mad genius’s cave in a 1950s sci-fi film. And yet there is magic in the chaos, as a steady flow of artists and musicians come to this otherworldly haven to record, or simply bask in its collaborative atmosphere.

Established in the 1980s by Chris and Ali Janka, the collective now based there has had many temporary homes, from a rat-infested air raid shelter to its current basement; the rodent threat now replaced by a soon-to-be expired lease. In an era when art and music are increasingly corporatised, the DIY ethos of Janka Industries feels like a relic from a bygone time. As an immersive descent into this subculture sanctuary, Angela Christlieb’s documentary emulates the punky grittiness of Janka Industries by giving a scratchy texture to its footage, which alternates between a digital look and the visual flourishes of 8mm film.

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