Joe Strummer

I finished watching the documentary Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten last night. The film interviews former bandmates, fans, and friends of Joe Strummer, the iconic musician who rode to fame in the legendary band The Clash. It was a fascinating look at Strummer: a guy who lived a most colorful life.

Director Julien Temple interviews Strummer’s friends as they sit around campfires, which is a great way to relax people and get them comfortable talking. Campfires were also a feature of the camps Strummer loved. His wife, Lucinda, created a music camp in Strummer’s honor called Strummerville.

The film weaves in footage of Strummer’s childhood (as a diplomat’s son), his days at art school, his early band, and his days in the Clash. Interspersed are the interviews of those who knew him. I loved the material in the film, but found it annoying that the music played was so much louder than the dialogue. A shot of one of Strummer’s friends speaking quietly and wisftully in front of a fire would be followed with no warning by a loud, jarring song from The Clash and sending me leaping for the remote control to keep from waking the kids.

As a kid who liked the Clash, I never really knew what to make of Strummer and his bandmates. Was it all an act? The documentary also made me wonder how much was real: who was the real Joe Strummer? His friends insisted that he was no phony, though, that what you saw was what you got. After his sudden death at the age of 50, I wondered if in his later years was he happy or drifting, pining for the smash success of his past. It was comforting to learn from the film that Strummer’s last years were indeed happy.

I did come away from the film with a much better appreciation of him and the amazing talent he had. It made me wonder what other amazing creations he could have given the world had he not died suddenly. His impact on the world will continue to be felt.