The Clash: Westway to the World

The Clash: Westway to the World
Directed byDon Letts
Produced byRick Elgood, Tricia Ronane
Starring
Edited byDenes Ujvari
Music byThe Clash
Distributed by3DD Entertainment
Release date
  • 2000 (2000)
Running time
60 min. / 79 min. (director's cut)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Clash: Westway to the World[1] is a 2000 documentary film about the British punk rock band The Clash. In 2003 it won the Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video.[2]

Directed by Don Letts, the film combines old footage from the band's personal collection filmed in 1982 when The Clash went to New York City with new interviews conducted for the film by Mal Peachey of members Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon, and Joe Strummer and other people associated with the group (including founding drummer Terry Chimes). The Clash: Westway to the World provides an overview of the band's history, and implies that The Clash broke up in 1983 when Mick Jones left, making no mention of the post-Jones version of The Clash which existed between 1983 and 1986, nor the album that iteration produced (Cut the Crap). The band make the point in Westway that creatively and spiritually Jones' leaving marked the end of The Clash. Strummer apologises on screen for sacking Jones and admits that it was a mistake. An unofficial documentary titled The Rise and Fall of The Clash covers the post-Jones period through interviews with latter-day Clash members Pete Howard, Nick Sheppard, and Vince White.

  1. ^ Letts Don; Rick Elgood, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon, Terry Chimes, The Clash (2001). The Clash: Westway to the World (Documentary). New York, NY: Sony Music Entertainment; Dorismo; Uptown Films. ISBN 0-7389-0082-6. OCLC 49798077.
  2. ^ "The Clash: Westway to the World (2000) (V) – Awards". IMDb The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-11-27.