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Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007)

May. 18,2007
|
7.5
| Documentary Music

As the front man of the Clash from 1977 onwards, Joe Strummer changed people's lives forever. Four years after his death, his influence reaches out around the world, more strongly now than ever before. In "The Future Is Unwritten", from British film director Julien Temple, Joe Strummer is revealed not just as a legend or musician, but as a true communicator of our times. Drawing on both a shared punk history and the close personal friendship which developed over the last years of Joe's life, Julien Temple's film is a celebration of Joe Strummer - before, during and after the Clash.

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Reviews

Lovesusti
2007/05/18

The Worst Film Ever

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GamerTab
2007/05/19

That was an excellent one.

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GazerRise
2007/05/20

Fantastic!

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Fairaher
2007/05/21

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

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Tashtago
2007/05/22

The Clash were one of the greatest bands in music history. No they weren't the Beatles or Stones or Zeppelin but they continued on the tradition of revoloutionizing the music and style of their times. Later they became true recording artists on Sandinista and Combat Rock. As it turns out fame got to them, just as it had the previous bands mentioned. Julien Temple's bio of Joe Strummer will not disappoint , as it portrays a man who definitely expressed the spirit of the band's anarchistic take no prisoners nature. Also as a movie it has great style , pace, and the intermingling of actual home film, with concert footage, and reminisces by colleagues works very well. The sound track would be nice to get.

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jimmccool
2007/05/23

This is a film which will be essential to those of us who found their own lives inspired and enriched by the works and legend of Joe Strummer. However, The Future Is Unwritten proves itself more than just a music biography, by being a crystal clear platform for Joe Strummer's heartfelt (though often contradictory) humanist views, by being outstanding as a creative work in its own right, and by demonstrating just how good, and how engaging, a well made documentary can be.Julien Temple's film had me weeping (frequently), laughing aloud and made me feel at times like I was running back through my own, damaged and painful, memory tapes. Tender, intense and intimate, the film is cleverly held together by the campfire 'motto' - which adds to the intimacy and is perfect for this squat-hippy-punk history.Best music film of all time? I can only think of that long-ago BBC2 Arena doc on Jerry Lee Lewis to rival it. This film really is THAT good. Thanks, Julien Temple. You done the world and Joe's memory a very good thing.

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McGonigle
2007/05/24

Julian Temple -- who filmed the Clash at one of their earliest rehearsals -- has assembled a truly impressive array of footage, including 8mm family films from Joe's childhood and a performance from the 101ers, his pre-Clash R&B/pub-rock band. There are interviews with Joe's squat-mates from the early 70s, Mick Jones and Topper Headon of the Clash, and numerous other people (musicians and other) who either worked with Joe or were influenced by him. My only reservation is that the movie might be overwhelming to someone who was unfamiliar with Strummer's work, or the broad outlines of his history, but I think even a complete novice would have to come away impressed by the sheer scope of Joe's legacy, both in terms of music and the influence he left on his friends and admirers.

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jane_prl
2007/05/25

I can't say anything of this movie by Julian... My comment is I want to cry.. I was really touched of the movie The Future is Unwritten.. Hoping for the next movie of Julian... ^_^ More Power.Joe Strummer was born as John Mellor in Ankara, Turkey on August 21, 1952. His father was a British foreign-service diplomat; his mother, a nurse, was a crofters's daughter from the Scottish Highlands. The family spent much time moving from place to place, and Strummer spent his childhood in a variety of countries. At the age of 9, Strummer and his older brother David, 10, began boarding at the City of London Freemen's School in Surrey. Strummer rarely saw his parents during this time. He developed a love of rock music, listening to records by The Beatles and The Beach Boys, as well as American folk-singer Woody Guthrie (Strummer would even go by the name "Woody" for a few years, until changing his name to "Joe Strummer" a year and a half before the Clash was formed). Strummer was never very close to his brother David, but nonetheless David's suicide significantly changed Joe's outlook on life. After finishing his time in boarding school in 1970 Strummer moved on to London's Central School of Art & Design, where he briefly flirted with the idea of becoming a professional cartoonist. During this time, Strummer shared a flat in the north London suburb of Palmers Green with friends Clive Timperley and Tymon Dogg.For those who didn't know who is Joe Strummer and for those who haven't seen the movie yet...

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