White Riot, I Wanna Riot!

I love a good documentary generally, but especially when the subject: a) is one I am particularly interested in, such as music, sport, history, and any number of other interests; b)is challenging and surprising in the presentation of a topic I had not previously considered, and: c) involves scantily clad or naked women in shows of Pompeii style debauchery. That final category aside, imagine my delight when I sat down to watch Julien Temple's much-lauded documentary on The Clash's enigmatic front man Joe Strummer * The Future Is Unwritten * and found that it ticked the first two boxes in spades. Of course I knew it was a music documentary of course, and knew that it was likely to be a particularly good one as all reviews I had read had been more than favourable, but what I didn't expect was just how good it would be, or perhaps more importantly that is would completely revise my view of the band itself, but also of their singer.

The documentary itself is a kind-of follow-up to Temple's previous punk review focussing on the other giant presence of the movement, 2000's Sex Pistols feature The Filth And The Fury. But where the former documentary charted the relatively brief rise and fall of the punk movement through the archetypes of the Sex Pistols themselves, The Future Is Unwritten is a much more intimate portrait of one man and while the music is important within this * I mean he fronted The Clash for goodness sakes!! * it is with an impression of this brilliant and contradictory individual that really leaves an impression. I have personally always been a little bit take it or leave it with The Clash, wondering about the true importance and quality of their overall output, while recognising at the same time their clear status as musical luminaries and the one band to really take their punk roots, cast them aside and turn themselves into a global phenomenon. I have also always been intrigued by their honest championing of social causes and different musical styles, particularly reggae and fledgling hip-hop, but also the contradictions inherent in Joe Strummer's public school background, hippie leanings in early and later life, sandwiching a rampant and vitriolic punk rocker.

But as I say, have never delved beyond the obvious musical output, and the accepted history of the band gleaned from the standard music press. But now I will definitely look further, because what is revealed in this portrait is all of those things, but so much more. The story of Strummer's early life is poignant and beset by sadness and tensions, the move from hippie squatter and rockabilly to ardent punk shocking in its ruthlessness, the growing tensions in the band, the global mushrooming, the taking of New York and the US are all ingredients of a classic tale of one band, and all topped off with the eventual retreat into himself and subsequent spiritual and musical rebirth which is nothing short of enlightening and wonderful.

Strummer was not an all around good guy by any means, but what this documentary shows is warts and all, and from that emerges a picture of a man with a turbulent past who, despite tensions and pressures internal and out, lived his life singularly and touching deeply virtually all he met, and with a staggering kindness and faith in humanity. Temple clearly loves the subject of punk and Strummer himself, and the incorporation of Joe's drawings and notes and interviews around the campfires with friends and players in his life story is cinematic gold. If you are a Clash fan, like so many out there, I'm sure you will have seen it already. If not then don't let it pass you by, it is simply too good for that.