Synopsis
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.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Joe StrummerSelf (archive footage)
- Topper HeadonSelf
- Paul SimononSelf
- Terry ChimesSelf
- Steve JonesSelf
- Don LettsSelf
- John Cooper ClarkeSelf
- Jim JarmuschSelf
- BonoSelf
- FleaSelf
Recommendations
- 100
Salon
The most powerful documentary I've seen all year, and one of the two or three best films ever made about an artist or musician. - 90
The New York Times
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. - 83
Entertainment Weekly
Captures the Joe Strummer who, in the late 1970s, just about firebombed the rock establishment with his fury. - 83
The A.V. Club
Temple introduces viewers to Strummer the punster, Strummer the womanizer, and Strummer the poseur, whom his mates could only really talk to when no one else was around. - 80
Los Angeles Times
The film is a rigorously thorough biography and an impassioned accolade. Temple spends as much time on Strummer's life before and after the Clash as he does charting the band's powerful musical and political influence. - 75
Premiere
At its best, it throbs with immediacy, just as Strummer did. - 75
New York Post
Compelling viewing, even for people who don't care a bit for the punk scene. - 70
Village Voice
Temple's engrossing portrait of the Clash's late frontman uses endlessly suggestive montage to show how he kept punk's precepts alive, even after he left the music and eventually the earth itself.
