Joe Strummer didn't fit the punk stereotype.
Herald Rating: ****
When Joe Strummer and the Clash sang their Career Opportunities - which they can be seen doing twice in this doco - it might well have been a commentary on his own relationship to the punk movement. He wasn't a Rotten guttersnipe but an
art school drop-out from a nice middle-class background who was recruited to the cause.
But as this thorough and fascinating character study explains, boy did he run with it, leaving many of his hippie mates in the dust. And they are the most fascinating interviewees of many on a list which includes Bono and an unnecessary chorus of hey-I-liked-Joe-too from a bunch of Hollywood stars who remember the 80s.
Otherwise, director Julien Temple makes an elegant job of assembling the story from archival footage, ranging from early family home movies to Temple's own filming of the Clash's early years before he became the Sex Pistols' chief cameraman.
As well, there are audio and video interviews and Strummer's own sketches which Temple has had animated.
It's a story told through the eye of an admirer but also one which examines Strummer's rhetoric, his contradictions and his often cowardly dealings with bandmates, friends and loved ones in a frank and honest way.
Clash fans might complain there's not enough about the band - there is always Don Letts' Westway to the World - and that Strummer never mattered after the group foundered.
But it's heartening to see that after his lost years post-Clash, Strummer found his feet again, musically and personally. The earlier episodes of this biography might show he was frequently insufferable to those close to him. But it shows that he was an inspirational figure and that all our hero worship - which turned to grief at his untimely death in 2002 - was fully deserved.
Director: Julien Temple Running Time: 125 mins Rating: M (offensive language, nudity) Screening: Rialto Verdict: The Clash frontman gets a fitting and honest send-off
