Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2371 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-08-25
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Synopsis
Fans of the gloomy Manchester-based band from the late 1970s will have less to feel down about with the release of this rockumentary. Joy Division follows the unlikely rise of these working class lads up to Ian Curtis's suicide, which tore the band apart until it was reborn as New Order. Included here is rare footage of the group as well as their moody and starkly photographed videos, capturing the essence of what made Joy Division so special and so tragic.

Customer Reviews

The last word
Aside from The Beatles, there can't be many bands as mythologised and documented as Joy Division. Happily, this does what 'The Filth & The Fury' did for the Sex Pistols; the people who were there tell the story of what really happened.

Apart from the archive material that's widely available on YouTube, it has a couple of 'scoops'. An eerie cassette of Ian Curtis being hypnotised by Bernard and apparently regressing to a past life is undeniably fascinating and a little chilling. However, the film's main coup is having the elusive Annik Honore appear on camera for the first time (for those not familiar, she was Curtis's Belgian mistress and has refused to talk in public up till now). She comes across and quite sensitive and wise. This is probably why there is no Deborah Curtis though.

The extras take the form of 48 various interview out-takes, featuring the usual reliable anecdotes from the band, the late Tony Wilson and others. Ex-roadie Terry Mason musing on what its like having to deal with the consequences of Curtis's death without the cushioning aspect of the band's fame is particularly poignant.

The documentary is the closest we'll get to the final word on Joy Division. Devotees young and old will revel in it.

A Necessary Addition To The Joy Division History
With 'Control' and, to a lesser extent, '24 Hour Party People' giving the Joy Division story fresh momentum, this documentary is a timely addition which will provide informative background to fans old and new. Very well contextualised, the viewer is given insight into the socio-economic and class structures of the times, the impact of punk on Manchester, and what the denizens of that city did to sing along to the new music.

Key players of the era get face time as they add colour to the narrative, and of course you get the surviving band members; as ever earthy, honest and still reflective about the fate of their bandmate. There's rare documentary and performance footage, as well. There are a few things missing for me. Time has taken away the vital contributions of Rob Gretton and Martin Hannett, and it would have been nice to have the full TV performances rather than extracts. Having said that, still well worth having.

The last word on Joy Division?
Less is more. The genius of this documentary is Jon Savage's interview technique. The 3 surviving Joy Division members talk with the interviewer like they were talking to a mate in the pub, in a totally unaffected manner. The end result is the most insightful piece on Ian Curtis to date and - surprise, surprise - he was just an ordinary guy.

Slick production values (Peter Saville is a "consultant") give the video a pleasing Factory-ish feel. The copious extras (unused interview snippets from the various participants) are bitty but something that avid fans will want to work their way through religiously.

Curiosity value is added in the short contributions from Richard H. Kirk and Genesis P. Orridge (who looks more like Pete Burns than I remember).

A well put together, well presented film by people who clearly understand Joy Division.