Strummerville

Bridgwater. Not necessarily the first place you think of as a location for a film premiere. But, luckily for me, the director of Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, Julien Temple holds a place in his heart for my hometown. Not only does Julien admire the (often) misjudged merits of Bridgwater, but so did the subject of Julien’s documentary film. Joe Strummer lived out his final years in the county and Julien wanted the first British premiere to be in the town that meant something to Joe, because he had a connection with the town’s rebellious attitude.

The Bridgwater Palace (a former cinema-come-nightclub) played host to the film, packed with an eclectic mix of die-hard fans, close friends of Strummer’s and a wealth of music enthusiasts. I went along with my sister and we took our seats (bar stools) in the gallery and observed the gathering crowds. The film took off at a startling pace, Julien’s trademark sketchy collage technique proving a little too distracting. The sound was at a level that complimented the Clash’s brash music, but tended to drown out the voices of the narrative thread.

That aside, the documentary was a visual treat, including a vast array of archive footage and suitably punky animation. Strummer himself narrated, from the outside looking into the world created by his close friends, associates and fellow band mates. The majority of these informal interviews were conducted around campfires, a motif that ran through Strummer’s life. The fires represented a communal space, a place where people lose their inhibitions and talk openly into the flames.

These campfires, set up in the cities that Strummer frequented around the world are a strong hinge for the film and prove to be an imaginative format for the documentary genre. The pace of the film thankfully slows in the second half, as Strummer’s life itself took a decidedly less-frantic turn, marking his departed from the punk scene. There were some moving, honest contributions from Strummer’s pre-fame circle of friends, many of whom were fecklessly dumped when Strummer famously switched from a hippy to a punk – seemingly over night.

Strummer’s contradictory behaviour was no secret, and although it was a constant source of irritation to those close to him, it also added to his creativity and his menacing lyrics. There were sound bites from Strummer’s American devotees, including Johnny Depp, Bono, John Cusack and Martin Scorsese. The American’s looked a but too buff in their suites and sunglasses to contribute any resonating quotes; and unsurprisingly, it is Strummer’s Cockney associates who reveal all the most memorable anecdotes. The picture drawn from Temple’s latest directorial foray is not one of a close friend patting a slightly jaded rock star on the back; it’s a honest and frank journey through the life of a complicated man with possibly too much ambition and not enough decorum to pull it off on his own.

As a documentary, Strummer: The Future is Unwritten is a frantic race through every stage in Strummer’s life and career – with rare footage from his early childhood and a strangely familiar voiceover from the man himself to narrate the film, and it is Strummer’s soothing tones that close the film at approximately two and a half hours. A long stretch for someone sitting on a bar stool, but probably bearable in a luxury Odeon seat, with state-of-the-arts surround sound. No doubt the London premiere will be much more glitzy affair, but in the raw, edgy enclave of the Palace – what mattered was that Strummer’s legacy lives on in a place that inspired a director and his subject.

I enjoyed the film, but found the sound distracting, and it was irritating that there was no name captions for any of the contributors – a bit too much work involved in trying to fit names to faces and what relationship they had to Strummer.

Determined to speak to Julien, I approached him with trepidation. There really was no need to be worried; he was very forthcoming – accepting my proposition for an interview straight away. I got his email address, and asked what his schedule was looking like. I know he’s going to be busy with the London previews, but he said to contact him in the two weeks. I want to talk to him about his involvement with a project to restore the dejected Bridgwater town hall. He’s managed to persuade the council to inject two million into a venture that will see the hall transformed into a multi-media centre and gallery. Julien has big London connections, and his close friend Damien Hurst wants to put his name to the gallery.

What a flying start for a slightly downtrodden town, with a misleading reputation. I want to get involved in this project, and I think meeting Julien will not only provide me with a wealth of material for a reportage style feature, but it will also (if I can get a high-profile publication interested) provide the right kind of recognition for the project and the town.