Interview

  In the four years that they were together, the quintet of teenage girls that made up The Runaways cut a swath of hard rock, harder kisses, and, eventually, scary-hard drugs through the legendary glam scene of 1970s Los Angeles. Their exploits-and exploitation-are the stuff of legend and now of The Runaways, the debut feature film from photographer and video director Floria Sigismondi. Based on trouble-doll lead singer Cherie Currie's 1989 autobiography, Neon Angel, Sigismondi hones in on the relationship between Currie and the band's co-founder, songwriter, and guitarist Joan Jett (Currie's  book, written with Tony O'Neill, is being published in an updated version this month by HarperCollins). Dakota Fanning plays the beautiful, damaged Currie; Michael Shannon steals the show as the evil genius svengali Kim Fowley; and Kristen Stewart plays Jett, all black-leather attitude and sex appeal-Elvis plus estrogen.

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In part because of rights issues, The Runaways pays short shrift to the band's other members-guitarist Lita Ford, bassist Jackie Fox, and drummer Sandy West. But driven by great songs, the film-and the feeling of liberation, love, and pain teenagers find in music and each other-is dead on. "I was looking for raw," says Sigismondi, who has directed videos for the likes of Marilyn Manson, The White Stripes, David Bowie, Björk, The Cure, and Interpol. "This very short period of time held a big place in all of their lives. It was a very delicate thing, but it wasn't all heartfelt. There was anger. There was resentment. There was sorrow. They were breaking new ground. They were taking risks. They were doing things that brought them up against walls." I recently spoke to Jett-creator of some of the greatest-of-all-time anthems like "Bad Reputation" and "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and who, with her manager, Kenny Laguna, executive-produced The Runaways-about what it was like to see her youthful triumphs and excesses (including some steamy scenes with Currie) on screen. "Joan Jett-she's just one of a kind, and has never veered from her path," Sigismondi says. "She's gone out there and said, ‘This is who I am.' And she's still doing that."

EVELYN MCDONNELL: How is it for you to watch The Runaways?

JOAN JETT: It's pretty surreal. It's hard to judge, hard to have some distance from, but I'm working on it and it's getting better. It's not painful for me to watch, so I think that's a good sign. The only part that's painful is that I go, "Oh, man, I'd like to do it again and really pay attention." Not that I wasn't paying attention back then, but you don't realize sometimes when you're in moments how special they are until they're gone.

MCDONNELL: Is this something that you've wanted for a while-for The Runaways' story to be told?