Customer Reviews
Incomplete film 
2008-10-01
Actually, this is an incomplete film because one fact: There isn't any kind of participation with Deborah Woodruffe (aka Debbie Curtis, Ian's wife), who is a central part on Ian's life and so, Joy Division's trajectory.
This unties the vision that the film tries to explore about Ian Curtis' way of thinking and final decision, showing JUST the half of Ian's dilema: an interview with the beauty and sofisticated but uncomfortable Annik (the lover), but leaving away the point of view of the person that last saw Ian alive (and who found him death), and the one he didn't want to leave because he loved her: Debbie (the wife and Ian's daughter mother).
Producers and Director should wait until they have the complete material.
In the other hand, you can watch "Control" simultaneosly (with Samantha Morton in Debbie's role, and the angel come from heaven Ana María Lara in Annik's role) and complete the scene.
Even though you know the story like the back of your hand. 
2008-09-24
Manc foursome led by deathtripping Ballard fan sees Pistols play their town, hooks up with rubbish TV host, frontman develops epilepsy, gets involved in extramarital affair, kills himself after band does two albums, rest of band soldiers on with drummer's girlfriend for two decades, when guitarist and bassist aren't at each other's throats, and they ignore Joy Division's canon until the end of their careers.
Third film in the series, but you know why you come back to this because they're a great band and there's more in the group than Ian Curtis. The interviews are great (RIP Tony Wilson, and I could listen to Hooky read the contents off a tin of Heinz Beans). Would some of the Granada performances been nice to be included in their entirety? You betcha. The one performance is repeated from the Control DVD. Would it have been nice to have had additional interviews? Sure. Where's Debbie? Maybe John Cooper Clarke could have popped up? That said, it's a great film. Tells a sad story. Left behind some really wonderful post-punk music.
Signed,
epsteinsmutha
Documentary 2008-09-18
Good side: It is great collection of interviews (even with real Annik Honoré).
The bad side: Created today, little archival content :-(
Anyway, it is well to watch it.
Tim.
Well worth viewing! 2008-09-07
The movie "Control" was good but not full of the stuff i wanted to know about this band. This Documentary was far better!. Even the style of the doc. is true to Joy Divisions creativity! I learned all I needed to know about the band and then some. the interviews are fantastic! and its full of just the right amount of their great music.
An Instant Classic 2008-09-03
This rock doc is a masterpiece! If you're a Radiohead fan you may have seen the doc of them titled Meeting People Is Easy, another masterpiece documentary in my opinion done by the same director as this one , Grant Gee. It is also written by a real insider into the Joy Division scene as well, Jon Savage. If you're familiar at all with Joy Division and/or New Order don't even hesitate about viewing this, it interviews everyone connected to the band imaginable with awesomely introspective bits coupled with great performance footage.
Unlike Control, the feature film centered around just the lead singer Ian Curtis, this doc covers all the bases and with style. But even if you're not quite or not at all aware of Joy Division, you will be sucked into this story I guarantee it. Yes the group is and has been immeasurably influential to the music world but the real characters/people who have lived this amazing story translate it grippingly.
an intelligently-done documentary 2008-09-01
Joy Division is a "fascinating look at the brief but vital trajectory of a band that died with its troubled frontman, Ian Curtis" (Jason Gargano, Cincinnati CityBeat), only to be reborn as the equally influential New Order. Featuring interviews with all surviving band members, Joy Division explores the Manchester origins of this revolutionary act, their partnership with Factory Records founder Tony Wilson, and collaboration with legendary producer Martin Hannett.
A Great Comedy 
2008-08-17
A bunch of guys from Manchester pretending they were the Doors.
Painful for anyone who isn't a fan.
Best Joy Division Film out of the Three 2008-08-06
Between "24 Hour Party People," Anton Corbijn's feature "Control," and Grant Gee's documentary "Joy Division," I think Gee's docu is the best. "24 Hour" sets the stage, delineating the context of Madchester in the early 80s and Tony Wilson's patronage as the Medici of the Northwest, discovering Joy Division/New Order. It's the most fun.
Grant Gee's "Joy Division" is informative and rich, with a lot more to give than the very limited feature "Control." The documentary focuses on outstanding faces, in crisp black and white, filtered through Final Cut Pro - it's a tasty, original and restrained blend of a music video and straight-up talking head interviews. As each new speaker is introduced, Gee brings up his or her face in soft focus behind their name-title. As the name fades from the screen and they begin to talk, the face snaps into focus.
The personalities are priceless - the surviving members of the band are honest and bare-faced, not "rockstar" at all, never mind that as the ultra-hip New Order they had the best-selling 12" single in history with "Blue Monday." They're fabulous to watch and listen to. The historic footage of Ian Curtis shows us his sculpted white-marble features, the full mouth of Michelangelo's David, punctuated by icy blue eyes - someone in the film says his eyes were "translucent." One in a million, that face.
Annik Honore, Ian Curtis's Belgian girlfriend, is articulate and open, glamorous and ethereally beautiful. If she broke up his marriage, one of the catalysts of Curtis's final breakdown, it's easy to understand her pull on him. Curtis's wife Deborah does not appear on screen, though her writing does.
Producer Martin Harnett, caricatured in "24 Hour Party People" by Andy Serkis (the voice of Gollum in "Lord of the Rings") as a nasty, portly drunk, is slender and wiry in the historic footage, very on. He was a co-developer of the AMS digital delay box, which he used for Joy Division's distinctive drum sound. It's not just the funky off-beats that the drummer employed - it's that instant spatial reverb SOUND that's such a sharp turn away from Punk. That's the real Harnett, not the cartoon version.
Peter Saville, Factory Records' graphic designer, looks more like a glamorous British actor than anyone has the right to, and has the resonant voice as well - his contribution was to put a brand-new graphical Modern look on what became Post Punk - a new direction just as the music took a new turn, evolving with Joy Division through New Order.
Saville's girlfriend at the time was Martha Ladly, the lanky blonde Canadian who was one of the two Marthas in Toronto's Martha and the Muffins. After leaving the Muffins and moving to England, she sang backup for the Associates on their masterpiece "Sulk" album. She appears in the Associates videos of the time, too, a foot taller than all the wee Scotsmen. It's her painting that Saville put on New Order's "1981 - Factus 8 - 1982" EP. Ladly was in charge of Peter Gabriel's groundbreaking Internet music efforts in the 1990s. Ian Curtis - New Order - Tony Wilson - Peter Saville - Martha Ladly: these people are gods.
what's needed 2008-08-03
attention,please.let's all agree this film is an important document and is certainly worth all the kind words offered so far.the next step is to urge the owner of the video of the plan k gig (mister nicholson of ikon&?)(the photographer,monsieur michel?)to release the entire concert on DVD for worldwide distribution.i'm sure questions of copyright and other legal niceties can certainly be surmounted.since a miniscule number of fans actually saw the lads in concert(and since the brussels one-off is possibly the only film extant other than the footage shot by mister boon)wouldn't it be great to have something everyone could appreciate for years to come-a consummately rocky band at the absolute top of its game at a prestige venue?
First-person accounts, Manchester scene & Annik!!! 2008-07-21
I was prompted to order this DVD after purchasing "Control". This is a first-hand account of what it was like to be in the band, what Manchester was like then, the psychological heritage, if you will, that made Joy Division what it was. There are interviews with all of the band members, Tony Wilson, Peter Saville and...ANNIK. Finally there she is and she is a sensitive, refined person who offers yet another angle on Joy Division and Ian Curtis. I wish Martin Hannett and Rob Gretton were still around to give their accounts. Actually, this documentary gives a fuller picture of all the players, not just of Ian, as it is customary in the JD mythification process. There are also several extra interviews and snippets that offer a lot more than a chronology of gigs and records. This documentary proves how much there is to Joy Division and how many more books and topics can be generated through the influence of this remarkable band. Martin Hannett deserves his own documentary, for one thing. This documentary offers "critical commentary" on the band, beyond just the customary awe. I have already watched it several times and I look forward to multiple (home) screenings.
