Joy Division - out tomorrow. (********8/10)
With the release of Control on DVD June 17th, there is a market for all things Joy Division, at least for a time. So Alliance Films is releasing a documentary film the same day, simply called Joy Division. Control is a fantastic film about Ian Curtis, the tragic lead singer of Joy Division in the late 70s and early 80s. And while it’s terrific in the way it focuses on Curtis himself, the rest of this powerful and influential band gets pushed aside in favour of the compelling story of their lead singer. Joy Division is the story of the rest of that band, and it’s more a celebration of the band’s history than it is a eulogy for Curtis himself. It features interviews with tons of the great movers and shakers in the Manchester music scene of the time.
Tony Wilson, the now-deceased founder of Factory records, is a big part of the film, and was an even bigger part of the scene in Manchester at the time. He’s the guy who broke Joy Division big in 1978, and was the subject of the terrific 2002 movie 24 Hour Party People. The other band members, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris make appearances here too, talking about their memories of fame and the beginnings of Joy Division, as well as reminiscing about Ian Curtis and his death. Of course, the three of them achieved far greater stardom than Curtis ever did. After his death, they would reform as New Order, and become internationally recognized pop stars.
But it was Joy Division that started it all. To be a little more accurate, the Buzzcocks really started it all in the late-70s Manchester scene, but Joy Division soon became the shining light of that group with the release of their first true album, Unknown Pleasures. That then paved the way for New Order, The Happy Mondays, the Stone Roses, the Inspiral Carpets, and countless other Manchester bands who would all, at the very least, achieve a cult following the world over. But this film doesn’t deal with the legacy of Joy Division, just the moment in music history that was theirs and theirs alone. As the other band members remember Ian Curtis toward the end, you get some lines that were actually used in Control as well. No one, at the time, thought that Curtis’ lyrics were anything more than art. That he, like Neil Young or Bob Dylan, was singing about things that he created as an art form. It was only too late, however, that they discovered that when he sang lyrics like; Mother, I tried, please believe me
I’m doing the best that I can
I’m ashamed of the things
I’ve been put through
I’m ashamed of the person I am
on “Isolation”, he wasn’t just creating art, he really meant it. One of his bandmates calls Curtis’s story “one of the last true stories in pop”, and he is absolutely right.
The whole story of Joy Division in general IS one of the last true stories in popular music. And it’s laid out for us here in stark terms, with an eye to historic relevance and to the feel of the times and the city. The influences on Joy Division that came from the Buzzcocks and, more directly, the Sex Pistols. The brilliance of the music, the effect it had on people, and the legacy the band left in just two staggeringly brilliant albums. Also appearing as interview subjects are producer Martin Hannett and Curtis’ Belgian girlfriend Annik Honore. His wife, Debbie, does not appear in the film, but text shows up on the screen from her biography Touching From A Distance, so her presence is felt throughout the film.
A wonderful retrospective on one of the great unknown bands of our time, Joy Division is essential for lovers of British music, a wonderful companion DVD to those of you who are going to buy Control, and simply well worth watching for anyone else. A fascinating story about a fascinating time, place, and band. If you’re a music lover, pick it up.