Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

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Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

2007

2h 5m

Documentary

Biography

Music

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

89%

Tomatometer

64 Reviews

87%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Julien Temple's film is a fitting tribute to one of Britain's most influential and best-loved musicians, best known as the frontman of The Clash, who mellowed in later life into fronting his new band, the Mescaleros. Temple's advantage is that as a chronicler of punk from its earliest days, he could call on his own archive footage as well as that shot by others over the years.

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Critics Consensus

Displaying Joe Strummer warts and all, The Future is Unwritten succeeds as both an engrossing documentary and a comprehensive examination of one of music's most legendary figures.

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Wendy Ide

The Times (UK)

Jun 21, 2023

Articulate, argumentative and influential: the Clash frontman Joe Strummer makes a rewarding subject for a documentary.

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Amy Nicholson

I.E. Weekly

Feb 3, 2008

B

The big unanswerable question is: Do we wish Strummer would have listened to David Lee Roth's advice that "You don't have to take life so seriously, honey"?

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Peter Howell

Toronto Star

Feb 1, 2008

3/4

Miracle of miracles, a valuable portrait of Strummer manages to emerge from the chaos, helped by the film's one consistent thread: tapes of a BBC World Service radio show he hosted in his final years.

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Toni Vall

Cinemanía (Spain)

Nov 5, 2020

3/5

An at times exciting, restless and absorbing film. [Full review in Spanish]

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Benjamin H. Smith

Decider

Jan 24, 2018

... effectively paints a three dimensional portrait of Strummer, unafraid to confront his philosophical contradictions, though neither dwelling on his flaws, and showing how by finding his humanity, he ultimately lived up to the ideals he espoused.

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Dave White

Movies.com

Apr 4, 2011

5/5

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Aug 11, 2022

GREAT GREAT GREAT makes a rock icon human and loveable

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nefasto r

@Nefasto May 25, 2019

An interesting view of Joe Strummer life, a collage of pictures, videos (that I can only assume were not so easy to come across) and interviews. I love The Clash so for me the film was half way there even before starting it, but I guess that if you are not a fan, the story is definitely not mind-blowing. Here you see the man behind the legend, and the problem is... as a man he was pretty disappointing.

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Feb 2, 2016

Interesting life of one man and his band.

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Jun 4, 2015

Best music film ever made. Watch it, you won't be disappointed.

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Sep 25, 2013

A fascinating insight into the public and private life of a real rock icon.

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Sep 5, 2013

Incisive documentary.

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Julien Temple

Director

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Interview: Julien Temple on Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten

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Synopsis

Julien Temple's film is a fitting tribute to one of Britain's most influential and best-loved musicians, best known as the frontman of The Clash, who mellowed in later life into fronting his new band, the Mescaleros. Temple's advantage is that as a chronicler of punk from its earliest days, he could call on his own archive footage as well as that shot by others over the years.

Director: Julien Temple
Producer: Amanda Temple, Anna Campeau, Alan Moloney
Distributor: IFC First Take
Production Co: Parallel Film Productions Ltd., Nitrate Films, Film4
Genre: Documentary, Biography, Music
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 2, 2007, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 9, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $248.2K
Runtime: 2h 5m

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