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Filmmaker Julien Temple has spent much of his career documenting the music scene in England, including such seminal works as THE GREAT ROCK AND ROLL SWINDLE and THE FILTH AND THE FURY about the Sex Pistols. In 1976 he had originally set out to do a film about a different British punk band, the Clash; more than 30 years later, he directed THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN, a heartfelt film about of one of the leaders of the Clash, his good friend Joe Strummer. Born John Graham Mellor in Turkey in 1952, Strummer, the son of a career diplomat, traveled a great deal as a child, eventually settling down in England, where he became an artist and a musician and took part in the mid-1970s squatters' movement in London. He soon formed the influential punk band the Clash with Mick Jones and later headed the band Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros before his tragic death in 2002 from congenital heart disease. Temple speaks with many of the men and women who knew Strummer, gathering them around a campfire in Brooklyn Bridge Park to pay tribute to the Strummerville campfires where Joe would meet with friends and discuss life, love, and the state of the world. Among the celebrities and music fans sharing their thoughts on Strummer and his legacy are Flea, Bono, Martin Scorsese, Steve Buscemi, Matt Dillon, John Cusack, Johnny Depp, Mele Mel, Jim Jarmusch, Courtney Love Cobain, Anthony Kiedis, Damien Hirst, Roland Gift, and Joe Ely. Temple doesn't place his main focus on Strummer the musician but rather on Strummer the human being, delving into his childhood and politics, displaying his art, and including excerpts from Strummer's radio show, making it seem as if Strummer is narrating his own story. The amazing soundtrack features songs by Strummer's early group, the 101ers, as well as the Clash and the Mescaleros as well as the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Bob Dylan, Big Audio Dynamite, Woody Guthrie, the MC5, the Slits, and others. THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN is a marvelous look at yet another major musical figure who died too soon., IN THEATRES NOVEMBER 2, 2007 (Limited)
The iconic frontman for the Clash takes center stage in this documentary from THE FILTH AND THE FURY director Julien Temple. Joe Strummer, one of music's most original voices, gets the full treatment, as this film explores his life from birth to his 2002 death.
Industry Reviews
4 stars out of 5 -- "Unguarded fireside interviews with faces obscure and familiar lay bare a complex, conflicted character whose legacy deserves no less."
Total Film - Mike Carhart-Harris (11/01/2007)
"THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN captures the Joe Strummer who, in the late 1970s, just about firebombed the rock establishment with his fury."
Entertainment Weekly - Owen Gleiberman (11/09/2007)
"[The film] is much more than a biography of the Clash's guitarist and lead singer: It's history, criticism, philosophy and politics, played fast and loud."
New York Times - A. O. Scott (11/02/2007)
"A beautiful, evocative collage composed of concert footage, photographs, interviews and film clips, as well as interviews as people who knew him, the film is a rigorously through biography and an impassioned accolade."
Los Angeles Times - Carina Chocano (11/02/2007)
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