‘Johnny Rotten’ doco The Public Image is Rotten is arriving in Australia for special weekend screenings

Event Cinemas will hold special weekend screenings of The Public is Rotten, a new documentary about the titular band headed by British rock icon John Lydon. The London-born Lydon is better known for his stage name Johnny Rotten, and for leading the iconic British punk band the Sex Pistols.

These screenings will take place on Friday September 7 and Saturday September 8, at cinemas in every state and territory except Victoria (sorry Victorians!).

Lydon formed The Public Image is Rotten (also known as PiL) after the breakup of the Sex Pistols in the late 1970s. Although it is less well-known than the Sex Pistols it certainly lasted for much longer, the band having existed in one form or another for close to 40 years.

Here is how Variety critic Owen Gleiberman began his review of The Public Image is Rotten documentary:

“A good music documentary is more than a footnote to a band’s career — it can channel, and heighten, the excitement that made the band memorable. In that spirit, there is much to be said for “The Public Image Is Rotten,” which casts its eye back over the sprawling, tempestuous, gnarly, ever-mutating career of Public Image Ltd., the band that John Lydon put together just after the breakup of the Sex Pistols.”

And here’s now The Playlist‘s Chris Barsanti began his take:

“Blisteringly caustic as ever, John Lydon nevertheless reveals himself as an occasionally sentimental sort in Tabbert Fiiller’s fitfully revelatory and charming documentary.”

So hey: consider us interested.

For more details about screenings, head over to the Event Cinemas website.