Last week I saw the movie "Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten." When I was 15, I never thought the day would come when I had to explain who Joe Strummer was (except to my parents) but that day is here. Even the youth of Britain have forgotten him. Back then, if I heard "Rock the Casbah" one more time, I might be the one screaming. Joe Strummer, guitarist/vocalist of the Clash. Died suddenly of a congenital heart defect at age 50 back in 2002. This was a Husband Request movie. The Clash were one of his favorite bands growing up back in England. They always seemed "too cool" to me. Maybe too serious. Maybe too much testosterone. I don't know, but I never got too into them. So I felt only slightly interested and figured I'd give it the 20 minute test (if I'm still interested after that amount of time, I'll watch the whole thing).
It passed the test, but it wasn't until the end that I realized how much it had grown on me. Time sure does change things too. The view I have of them now is not how I could have possibly have interpreted them at 15. I intensely felt their pain as they became the very thing they never wanted to become. In their case, exclusive, glamorized rock stars. The 80's now appear so ancient in their non-digitized confused modernity.
The movie was well put-together, unified with a campfire glow theme where purposely unidentified friends speak of their experiences with him. Some famous and recognizable, others not. An unusual, but wise choice. Also scattered throughout the movies were some cartoons and animated bits done by Joe which were great.
The campfire theme grows throughout the movie. At the end there is a picture of a handmade Christmas card he designed and sent out days before his death. I wish I could find a picture of it. I found it beautiful and inspiring. It was somewhat dream-like with a boat sailing to different islands with campfires on them.
I tried to put the youtube trailer here, but it says "embedding disabled by request", so I'll link it the old fashioned way. Trailer.
In future movie news, what appears to be an interesting movie coming out in October is Lord Save Us from your Followers. And the smaller title: Why is the Gospel of Love Dividing America? There is a book that came out a few months ago. The movie is done in a similar documentary sort of style, like Supersize Me, but promises it doesn't utilize Michael Moore style editing.
I like Bumper Sticker Man.
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