It’s hard to believe, in a now world populated by prefabricated pop stars and pseudo-punk rock boy bands, that a band once existed that made you believe you – yes you – had the power to make a difference.
A flyer for their infamous show at the People’s Temple (for a bit of fun, look up that happy little group of Jesus freaks, kids) in San Francisco dubbed them “the only band that matters,” and that description of The Clash was not too far off the mark. While never reaching the Beatles’ stratospheric popularity, The Clash were in their way nearly just as important, managing to be one of only two bands (the other being the Pretenders) from the initial UK punk scene to have any real impact in the U.S., to somehow maintain some semblance of integrity and punk’s political edge through most of their existence, and to inspire innumerable others with their “Revolution Rock.”
Using a recurring bonfire motif, a collage of rare footage, both animations of Joe’s drawings and his fascination with communication-via-radio, Director Julien Temple’s latest does for charismatic Clash front man Joe Strummer what his The Filth and the Fury did for fellow punk pioneers the Sex Pistols – creates a film that is not only a comprehensive biography of one of rock’s greatest philosophers, but a love letter to both a friend and an all-too-brief period when rock ’n’ roll again mattered.
More than a gushing glorification, it takes a fair look at the complexities that made the man – the early traumas that haunted him; the hippie idealism that he initially embraced, then tossed off along with associated friends when he glommed onto punk; and the sometimes contradictory beliefs, attitudes and unflagging hope in humanity that fueled him – and traces Strummer’s life from his birth in Turkey, through punk, The Clash’s success and unflattering demise, his decade of soul-searching, and a welcome return to the spotlight cut short by the congenital heart defect that killed him suddenly in 2002. Along the way, various friends, family, musicians, poets, directors (yes, that’s Scorsese admitting The Clash had a heretofore uncredited impact on Raging Bull), actors and even Strummer himself (via old interviews and archived snippets of his “London Calling” radio show) offer anecdotes, insight and testimonials to the impact Strummer had on his world.
At a time when vapid and faceless again rules the roost, political intelligence is frowned upon and the media more thoroughly masks the despotism Strummer railed against the entirety of his life, Temple’s film, right down to its title, proves as inspirational as its subject: the future is unwritten, and Strummer’s life is proof that one can chuck the rules, challenge the status quo and make a difference.
