DocumentaryMusic

Joy Division

A chronological account of the influential late 1970s English rock band.

Release Date : 2009-01-28

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Hudson ProductionsBrown Owl Films

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Anton Corbijn

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Kevin Cummins

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Richard Boon

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Ian Curtis

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Peter Hook

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Bernard Sumner

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Stephen Morris

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Paul Morley

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Genesis P-Orridge

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Peter Saville

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Tony Wilson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Pete Shelley

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Richard H. Kirk

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Liz Naylor

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Malcolm Whitehead

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

In the shadowplay acting out your own death knowing no more. Joy Division, the mercurial Manchester based masters of dark post punk sounds, who in Ian Curtis had one of the eras most tortured souls. Directed by Grant Gee and written by Jon Savage, this documentary actually brings nothing new to the table for hardened fans of the band, of which I am unashamedly amongst that number. There is a tendency with musical documentaries to be over praised by fans simply because, well, they just love to see their idols/heroes/inspirations up there on the screen. Grant Gee's film has strong merits as an introduction for those new to the band, for the curious and to those hypnotised by tunes so hauntingly poetic they can reduce you to tears, but again for those who have followed Joy Division and their subsequent brotherhood band, New Order, there is nothing to be learned here. The absence of Deborah Curtis (Ian's widow) from the doc is annoying, where we are only given printed quotes from her. One can only guess that she refused to be sharing screen space with her love rival, and fellow tormentor of Ian Curtis' psyche, Annik Honoré, the latter of which who is more than happy to fuel the documentary fire. At times this feels like a copy of Anton Corbijn's superb film, Control, only with the real life band members and entourage commenting from the edges of the frame. But then there is of course the live excerpts of the band, which lifts this up to the high levels set by Control and Deborah Curtis' excellent book, Touching from a Distance. In that, there is the crux, Joy Division the film is essential for fans, to see that performance of Shadowplay and etc etc, it's these moments that make us forgive the narrative, which quite frankly, is a bit of a cash cow cash in. And I really do say that with heavy heart. 8/10