Punk rock’s greatest advocate receives a fitting tribute on the big screen.
Sure, the Sex Pistols might have breathed life into the punk rock form, but without The Clash, punk is a music form that might subsist these days as little more than a blip on the radar of popular music – somewhere between disco and smooth jazz.
Along with his Clash band mates, Joe Strummer took the punk music genre to the next level. Drawing upon influences as wide and varied as early rock, reggae and maybe even a little country, Strummer and co. used the often volatile music form as a political sounding board. Their music was of the utmost seriousness within a musical form that no one was taking too seriously.
Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten takes viewers on a musical journey through the often chaotic life of the legendary Strummer. Before his passing in 2002, Strummer had spent the last years of his life developing a friendship with British director Julien Temple. From that relationship and a massive gathering of interview footage, still photos and archive material, Temple has concocted an excellent documentary to celebrate Strummer’s entire life - before, during and after The Clash. Coincidentally, Temple was actually the first man to film The Clash back in 1976.
The opening of the film is pitch-perfect, featuring a young Strummer shouting into a studio microphone while wearing monitor headphones. There is no music at first, just the impassioned voice of a young Strummer belting the words to the Clash’s iconic “White Riot.” Eventually the familiar beat kicks in and the movie is off and running.
Joe’s early years are volatile as might be expected, but even as he seems a bit more confrontational in his younger days, there is always a strong sense of intelligence behind his words. Where as the Sex Pistols Johnny Rotten seems to spit forth his volatility merely for the sake of it, Strummer by comparison seems well informed in his statements, both within lyrics and in front of crowds or in interviews. He believes in his words and sincerely hopes to change the world.
The story goes through Strummer’s entire life, right up to his near Clash reunion just before his death in 2002. The post-Clash years should be of particular interest to layman fans of Strummer (like myself) who only know his work in the decade or so The Clash ruled the punk scene. Strummer was an inventive musician on through his final years, even managing to deliver one more arguable classic, "Streetcore", before his passing.
The entire film is briskly edited and highly entertaining from start to finish. I’m a bit biased as a Clash fan myself, but Temple provides enough variation between the music and the stories behind the music through the use of interviews, slick editing and even a cartoon sequence to keep viewers of any musical taste engaged.
One omission is that Temple seems to gloss over the specifics of Strummer’s Clash days. The film is largely chronological, but little differentiation is given between the periods when the band was recording their self-titled debut or their much-maligned final work, “Cut the Crap”, or even their seminal classic recordings for “London Calling.” Considering the importance of these albums to the history of popular music, it might have been interesting to hear more about what went into these sessions. “London Calling,” for example, was a major step forward for the punk music genre. "Sandinista!" was a major break in form that splits fans and critics down the middle to this day.
Even with those omissions, Future is Unwritten is a consistently entertaining, informative doc that pays fitting tribute to a musical legend often overlooked for his affiliation to a genre still grouped with snarling, multi-pierced youths screaming incoherently and playing instruments badly. Strummer was a truly great musician and writer of high intelligence who almost single-handedly (with a few notable exceptions) offers legitimacy to the punk form.
ReelzChannel Rating: 