Rating: 8.7
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007)
Sony BMG Feature Films

Description

As the frontman 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 acclaimed filmmaker Julien Temple's 'The Future Is Unwritten', Joe Strummer is revealed not just as a legend or a musician, but as a true communicator of our times.

Tags

The Clash


Collected reviews and ratings

10 Salon.com | Andrew O'Hehir

Temple has assembled an extraordinary archive of film and video that documents and illustrates various aspects of Strummer's life and career.
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9.2 Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

The Future Is Unwritten made me long for the era when a rock star could burn - and even burn out - this brightly.
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9.2 The Onion A.V. Club | Noel Murray

Julien Temple's Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten follows its own agenda, placing the band in the context of its primary singer and lyricist.
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9.0 Variety | Robert Koehler

Pic is the creative equal to Strummer's aggressive signature, ensuring "Strummer" will be in demand among both longtime Clash fans and pop culture mavens for theatrical and beyond.
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9.0 New York Times | A.O. Scott

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.
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9.0 Amazon user reviews

Julian Temple consistently creates outstanding documentaries and this one is equal to his masterpiece on the Sex Pistols, The Filth and the Fury.
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8.0 BBC | Laura Bushell

As a friend of Strummer, Temple had his camera trained on him since the early days, resulting in a staggering array of footage and a meticulously built portrait of the man and his work.
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8.0 Washington Post | Desson Thomson

The Future Is Unwritten is as perfect and satisfying a virtual encounter as we could wish for. It is one of the great portraits of a rock-and-roll spirit that burned out all too quickly.
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8.0 filmcritic.com | Chris Barsanti

Warmth, heat, honesty... whatever it is, that factor is a large part of what makes this documentary such a rollicking, damn near inspirational film
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8.0 DVD Talk | Jamie S. Rich

Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten is a comprehensive biography, birth to death, 1952 to 2002. It's a loving portrait, but an honest one.
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