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 front man 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)

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

Jun 21, 2023

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Amy Nicholson

I.E. Weekly

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"?

Rated: B

Feb 3, 2008

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Peter Howell

Toronto Star

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.

Rated: 3/4

Feb 1, 2008

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Toni Vall

Cinemanía (Spain)

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

Rated: 3/5

Nov 5, 2020

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Benjamin H. Smith

Decider

... 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.

Jan 24, 2018

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Dave White

Movies.com

Rated: 5/5

Apr 4, 2011

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Audience Member

GREAT GREAT GREAT makes a rock icon human and loveable

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

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nefasto r

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.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Interesting life of one man and his band.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

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Audience Member

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

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

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Audience Member

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

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Incisive documentary.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

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Julien Temple

Director

Joe Strummer

Actor

Steve Jones

Actor

Mick Jones

Actor

Brigitte Bardot

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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 front man 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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