"?Born to lose? documents the circumstances of Johnny Thunder's life and death and the connections between the two. It is the classic story of the artist who consciously defies the accepted values of society, who seeks to provide his audience with a vision that transcends blind conformity, and who is ultimately destroyed in the process. Culled from more than five hundred hours of footage of a bizarre and colorful cast of characters the film is a unique chronicle of a time when underground New York was not just a fashion statement or a commercial sales gimmick but a vibrant explosion of rebellious energy that teetered between comical absurdity and stark tragedy. It is ironic that the anarchic sensibility of artists like Johnny Thunders is now served up as MTV pabulum, utterly devoid of the spirit that engendered it. The Last Rock and Roll Movie captures the peculiar optimism of a time when possibilities seemed unlimited and creativity itself was the answer. The film then examines the painful death of that illusion. The testimony of the people who lived through the times is not merely an important social document but a widely appealing wink at the soul of rebellion that lurks in all of us.

Johnny Thunders was born in a working class neighborhood in Bayside, Queens, New York, in 1952. With a view of the Empire State Building from his back yard, he was drawn to Manhattan like a moth to the flame. Not to Wall Street, not to midtown, but to the Lower East Side. The Fillmore East was the magnet and Johnny became a fixture there, dealing marijuana and grooving to Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.

Inspired by Iggy Pop, Keith Richards and the MC 5, Johnny started playing guitar and a chance meeting with David Johanson was the launching pad for the New York Dolls. They conquered New York overnight and became international celebrities within a year. Their brash, crossing-dressing and fuck you style prompted Creem magazine to brand them the best group of 1973 - and the worst!"

"The archival footage was shot by myself and a handful of people who were part of a particular New York underground scene. This film and video material is intimate and unselfconscious and is as much about what is in front of the camera as it is about who was shooting it. Over the years I filmed people who were part of that original scene and a natural story line evolved. When Thunders died an opportunity was created to bring this material together. When editing it I wanted the story to transport the viewer back in time but to feel that something of that 1970s life style is still going on.

Born To Lose is a non-fiction Grimms fairy tale. It all did happen, you see the proof on screen but the reality is too unclean to fathom. The viewer becomes a trapped voyeur. As the film moves forward, the roller coaster ride gets hairier and hairier. The intent of the editing and pacing is to get the viewer to relax; to become hypnotised by the story, the material, the characters, the raunch, the horror and to paradoxically to enjoy it."