Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten is a 2007 documentary film directed by Julien Temple about Joe Strummer, the lead singer of the British punk rock band The Clash, that went on to win the British Independent Film Awards as Best British Documentary 2007.[1][2] The film premiered 20 January 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.[3] It was also shown at the Dublin Film Festival on 24 February 2007.[3]
| Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Julien Temple |
| Produced by | |
| Cinematography | Ben Cole |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | |
| Distributed by | Vertigo Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 123 min. (Sundance Film Festival) |
| Countries | Ireland, United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
It was released in the United Kingdom on 18 May 2007 and in Australia on 31 August 2007.[3] The film opened in limited release in the United States on 2 November 2007.[3]
Cast
edit- Brigitte Bardot – Herself (archive footage)
- Michael Balzary (Flea) – Himself
- Bono – Himself
- Steve Buscemi – Himself
- Terry Chimes – Himself
- John Cooper Clarke – Himself
- John Cusack – Himself
- Peter Cushing – Winston Smith (archive footage)
- Johnny Depp – Himself
- Matt Dillon – Himself
- Tymon Dogg – Himself (archive footage)
- Joe Ely – Himself
- Antony Genn – Himself
- Bobby Gillespie – Himself
- Alasdair Gillies – Himself
- Iain Gillies – Himself
- Bob Gruen – Himself
- Topper Headon – Himself
- Damien Hirst – Himself
- Mick Jagger – Himself (archive footage)
- Jim Jarmusch – Himself
- Mick Jones – Himself
- Steve Jones – Himself
- Anthony Kiedis – Himself
- Don Letts – Himself
- Keith Levene – Himself
- Courtney Love – Herself
- Bernie Rhodes – Himself
- David Lee Roth – Himself (archive footage)
- Martin Scorsese – Himself
- Joe Strummer – Himself
Special Thanks: Terence Dackombe
Critical reception
editThe film was well received by critics. As of 18 October 2009 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 61 reviews.[4] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 79 out of 100, based on 19 reviews.[5]
Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle named it the 8th best film of 2007.[6] Stephanie Zacharek of Salon named it the 9th best film of 2007.[6]
Box office performance
editAs of 31 January 2008 box office takings totalled $US 1,108,740.[7]
Awards
edit- Nominated Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema – Documentary category at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival[2]
- Winner of Best British Documentary at the 2007 British Independent Film Awards[2]
- Nominated Best Single Documentary at the 2008 Irish Film and Television Awards[2]
Soundtrack
editThe official soundtrack was produced by Ian Neil, Julien Temple, and Alan Moloney. It is a mix of spoken word clips from interviews with Strummer and others, tracks from his various bands (including several rare or unreleased tracks by The Clash), and eclectic selections from other musicians that Strummer played on his BBC World radio show London Calling from 1999-2002 (some of which include his spoken introduction).
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Punk Rock Warlord" (spoken word) | Joe Strummer | Joe Strummer, Interview from WOMAD Festival, MTV networks, 1995 | 0:11 |
| 2. | "White Riot" (alternate demo mix) | Joe Strummer, Mick Jones | The Clash | 2:22 |
| 3. | "Rock The Casbah" | Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Topper Headon | Rachid Taha | 4:30 |
| 4. | "BBC World Service" (spoken word) | Joe Strummer | Joe Strummer | 0:19 |
| 5. | "Crawfish" (from the film King Creole) | Fred Wise, Ben Weisman | Elvis Presley | 2:08 |
| 6. | "Black Sheep Boy" | Tim Hardin | Tim Hardin | 2:00 |
| 7. | "Kick Out the Jams" | Michael Davis, Fred "Sonic" Smith, Wayne Kramer, Dennis Thompson | MC5 | 3:00 |
| 8. | "Keys To Your Heart" | Joe Strummer | The 101ers | 3:38 |
| 9. | "Mick and Paul were different" (spoken word) | Joe Strummer | Joe Strummer, interview with MTV News, 2002 | 0:11 |
| 10. | "I'm So Bored with the USA" (demo version) | Joe Strummer, Mick Jones | The Clash | 2:20 |
| 11. | "Natty Rebel" | Ewart Beckford, U-Roy / Bob Marley (sample, Soul Rebel) | U-Roy | 4:09 |
| 12. | "Armagideon Time" | Jackie Mittoo, Willi Williams | The Clash | 3:46 |
| 13. | "Nervous Breakdown" | Mario Roccuzzo | Eddie Cochran | 2:18 |
| 14. | "(In The) Pouring Rain" (previously unreleased) | Joe Strummer | The Clash | 5:06 |
| 15. | "Omotepe" (from the film Walker) | Joe Strummer | Joe Strummer | 3:44 |
| 16. | "Martha Cecilia" | Cifuentes | Andres Landeros | 2:52 |
| 17. | "Minuet" ([sic] liner notes list the song as "Minuet"; the actual title is "Minuit") | Ernest Ranglin | Ernest Ranglin, Baaba Maal | 8:57 |
| 18. | "Trash City" (from the film Permanent Record) | Joe Strummer | The Latino Rockabilly War | 4:11 |
| 19. | "I called him Woody" (spoken word) | Topper Headon | Topper Headon, interview from the film | 0:19 |
| 20. | "Ranger's Command" | Woody Guthrie | Woody Guthrie | 2:48 |
| 21. | "Corrina, Corrina" | Bob Dylan | Bob Dylan | 2:44 |
| 22. | "Johnny Appleseed" | Joe Strummer, Martin Slattery, Tymon Dogg, Scott Shields, Pablo Cook | Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros | 4:02 |
| 23. | "To Love Somebody" | Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb | Nina Simone | 2:38 |
| 24. | "Without people, you're nothing." (spoken word) | Joe Strummer | Joe Strummer, interview with MTV news, 2002 | 0:51 |
| 25. | "Willesden To Cricklewood" | Joe Strummer, Antony Genn | Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros | 6:46 |
References
edit- ^ Temple, J., Amanda Temple, Anna Campeau, and Alan Moloney (2008). Joe Strummer The future is unwritten (Documentary, Rockumentary). New York, NY, United States: Sony BMG Music Entertainment. OCLC 233652709.
- ^ a b c d "Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007) – Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
- ^ a b c d "Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007) – Release dates". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 3 November 2007.
- ^ "Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 3 November 2007.
- ^ "Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 31 October 2007. Retrieved 3 November 2007.
- ^ a b "Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2 January 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
- ^ "Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
