Stars: The Clash

Director: Don Letts

Summary: Interviews with the group who talk about their lives. Features unseen live footage and a discussion about how the group influenced British music.

WESTWAY TO THE WORLD features rock group the Clash in a series of revealing interviews (many exclusive to this DVD release) intertwined with hefty doses of previously unseen live footage, encompassing the legendary band's career in its entirety.

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Don Letts' superb Westway To The Worlddocumentary allows The Clash to tell the second greatest punk story in their own words. Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and a touchingly frank Topper Headon each give personal accounts of the band's career in separate talking head interviews that triumph through their simplicity. Live footage and rare film of the band rehearsing is intercut with the anecdotes but this video is really about spoken memories rather than visual ones. The emotion in Strummer's voice as he talks about the demise of The Clash or the moment where a visibly humble Headon apologises to the band for his heroin use are worth a thousand grainy super eight segments. Simonon, meanwhile, is simply the coolest man ever to strap on a bass and has a charm to match. And Jones is clearly a music obsessive who kept the band one step ahead with the advent of hip-hop. Perhaps the only weakness of this account is the lack of contextualisation. Unlike Julien Temple's "Filth And The Fury", there are only fleeting glimpses of the outside world. Even so, Westway To The Worldis exhaustive and utterly inspirational.

On the DVD:The DVD contains a wealth of extra interview footage (including Paul Simonon talking about setting fire to Lester Bangs!) and Letts' earlier Clash documentary Clash On Broadway. The account of The Clash's two week stay in New York is slightly more impressionistic than Westway To The Worldbut contains a hilarious Topper Headon interview. A full band discography and a set of photos of the Clash also feature on the DVD. --Ian Watson

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Photo Gallery, Interactive Menus, Album Discography
Subtitles:	English, French, Spanish
Year:	1977
Release Date:	November 19, 2001
Runtime:	80 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	2015109
Keywords:	Music, World, Rock, Clash, Pop, Performing, Arts, Popular, Westway
Genre:	Music/Performing Arts