|
|
The Future Is Unwritten
|
| | Publisher: | Sony Legacy | | Starring: | Joe Strummer | | Directed By: | Julian Temple | | Audience Rating: | NR (Not Rated) | | Format: | Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Explicit Lyrics, HiFi Sound, Surround Sound, THX, Widescreen, NTSC | | Aspect Ratio: | 1.33:1 | | Language: | English-Original Language | | Release Date: | Jul 08, 2008 | | |
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
Julien Temple, one of the early documentarians of the London punk scene and director of the 2000 Sex Pistols film The Filth and the Fury, turns his attention now to that other seminal British band: The Clash--or more accurately, to the band's co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead singer, Joe Strummer. The Future is Unwritten is more than just a biography of Strummer; it is a tribute and exploration of a musician, artist and devoted humanist. Though Temple respects and admires Strummer (his influence is exalted by close friends, peers and fans like Bono and John Cusack), he doesn't romanticize this larger-than-life personality and presents Strummer honestly and not always in flattering light, though the director's fondness for his subject is constant. Most movingly, Strummer himself provides the narration via reassembled excerpts from a variety of interviews and the BBC radio show he hosted during the nineties. In the wrong hands, this could be contrived, but in this masterful documentary it serves as a testament to not just Joe Strummer the myth, but Joe Strummer the man, telling us his story in vivid detail. The Future is Unwritten is a moving and personal portrait of a musician who helped shaped not just punk, but modern music as a whole. --Kira Canny
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:
Summary: punk rock hippie
Comment: A must for any Clash fan, or anyone interested in the history of British punk.
A little maudlin at times, and a bit sedate as well, but overall a worthy addition to your punk/ rock library.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Future Is A Bit Dimmer
Comment: I loved this documentary, it really told the full story of a creative spirit that got his message out and carried on long after the areanas were empty and the pint glasses were washed. Joe Strummer was a unique singer songwritter who embraced the political and social turmoil of the late seventies and put them to a musical score that is as vibrant today in its message as it was then.
By telling the mans story through the thoughts and feelings of his friends and aquaintences you truely can understand the mesure of this man and his music, we were lucky to have him on this planet and we miss him dearly this film helps to explain why.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Death is a Star
Comment: Excellent overview of Joe Strummer's much too short existence. Old friends sitting around a campfire and animations of Joe's drawings were great structural touches. Too bad Paul Simonon opted out.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Love it, but...
Comment: I'm a huge Joe Strummer fan, so naturally I grab anything I can that's in any way related to him. As far as this movie's concerned, I came away feeling good, but not really with a sense that I understood Joe any more. Of course it was biased--the interviews were with people who were friends with Joe, so why would it be negative?--but I was pleased with the honesty presented. Friends expressed dismay about Joe's sudden change from rockabilly Woody Mellor to punk rock Joe Strummer and the subsequent attitude change; the film painted him as a social activist, but with womanizing tendencies; and it showed how all of it was an act. However, a great deal of the time it felt like it was more about, "Hey, look what famous person I got to interview for this movie who had no association with Joe Strummer whatsoever!" Johnny Depp? C'mon...at least Steve Buscemi and John Cusack were actual fans who'd interacted with Joe, but a great deal of the celebrities featured in the film seemed to be there for show, not for any real attempt to understand Joe.
In the end I liked the movie. I wish it would have covered more of his early years, his own philosophies and perhaps more interviews with family members. The focus was mainly on the Clash, which as a fan I don't mind too much--it just makes it a bit more difficult to separate Joe from his successful band, which I had really hoped the film would accomplish.¬
Customer Rating:
Summary: This wasnt born so much as it fell out
Comment: This plays more like somebody passed a video camera around at a wake. All the excellent concert footage was talked over by someone saying something that mattered to only two people, Joe and who ever was talking. Nothing new was revealed if you were already a fan. This was an hour plus of Joe Strummers friends giving him verbal fellatio.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
