Review of Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007) by Sean P — 31 May 2010

"The only thing to do was to kick in these abandoned buildings.....and then live in them.".

This is one of, if not the best documentary/film I've seen on rock and roll. It paints an honest picture of an icon, but as someone who was three-dimensional and far from perfect. It's put together in a 'punky', unpretentious way that is sensitive to the integrity of the subject matter and is edited skillfully.

The opening scene immediately grabs your attention. Just Joe in the studio, laying down vocals for 'White Riot' without any music to back it up. It's raw and engaging, setting the tone for what's to come.

During the film we find out a lot of interesting things about his childhood, with Strummer commentating....despite of course being dead...I think they got hold of a set of radio shows he did for the BBC World Service back in the 90's...and it works a charm.

As the film unfolds, we get interviews with people you'd like to hear from. I wanna hear John Cusack and Johnny Depp talk about why they love The Clash so much. Except for Bono. But then they even have him sitting by some corrugated iron bin-fire, on a bank, probably somewhere along the Thames...same for most of the people they interviewed...gathered around fires in a hippy-ish fashion, because that's the kind of bohemian thing Joe Strummer spent his time doing. In fact, the fact that the film almost manages to make Bono come across as down to earth is a huge achievement in itself. For a moment, it doesn't seem to matter that he is a million miles away from everything that The Clash stood for.

The soundtrack, again, is perfect. The guy who made this is not only a great filmmaker but has tight musical knowledge as well. A lot of what we hear is straight from Strummer's mouth. ....he sounds convicted, always...At one point we get Joe the DJ slamming into Nine Simone's classic version of 'To Love Somebody'. One of many delightful touches in the film.

Gritty, intimate...and always enjoyable.

"People can do anything. But people are doing bad things to each other because they're being de-humanized. Greed aint doing nothing. It's time to bring humanity back. Let's put that in the centre of the ring. Without people, you're nothing." -Joe Strummer.

You tell em Joe.