Review: Joy Division (2008)
One of my earliest childhood memories is being dragged into Manchester by my parents - and being ever-so-slightly scared by the decaying warehouses and factories, the disused Manchester Central railway station and the concrete monstrosities that made up the actual centre. It was grim beyond belief. But that decaying, depressing and hopeless environment produced one of Manchester's most iconic bands and the basis of this self-titled documentary - Joy Division.
Yes, with Control barely out of the cinema, here's another Joy Division story to replace it. But if you are a fan of the band, this is one you really need to see. Why? Well, it's all about the detail.
Joy Division (the documentary) is the work of Jon Savage. And if you've ever read a Jon Savage book, you'll know what to expect - a strong narrative and a serious amount of background detail, which in the case of a movie means archive material. And we're talking a serious amount of archive footage that's rarely - if ever - been seen before.
Savage, director Grant Gee and producers Tom Atencio, Tom Astor and Jacqui Edenbrow have dug up UK TV shows (So It Goes, Something Else, What's On etc), two locally-produced movies (which mix footage of the band with 'as was' Manchester) and just about every snippet of live footage available (including rehearsal room material and live footage from both the UK and Europe, headed up by a performance from Plan K in Belgium) to form the backbone of the movie. There's also some interesting audio footage, including a Radio Lancashire interview with Ian Curtis and (bizarrely) a recording of Curtis under regression hypnosis, not to mention a hatful of stills. For fans, that's reason enough to view.
But there's more. Sitting side-by-side with the original material is narrative from key people in the story - including the surviving members of the band, Tony Wilson, Peter Saville and most importantly, Belgian journalist Annik Honoré - the 'other woman', speaking for the first time about her relationship with Curtis.
It would have been easy to drown with all the material, but that strong narrative saves the day, with no clip outstaying its welcome and every sentence from the 'talking heads' worth its screen time. It also walks a fine line between fan doc and general music movie, offering enough for the obsessive without alienating the 'Johnny come lately'. And admirably, Savage manages to keep it (for the main part) a tale of a band, rather than just another Ian Curtis story. Although, let's be honest, there comes a point in the band's history where it really is all about Curtis.
If I was picking holes, I'd say the one obvious one was a lack of direct input from Deborah Curtis. Admittedly, that's been well documented elsewhere, but you do feel the movie suffers from her non-appearance. Additionally, Savage's keenness to pack in the footage means each clip is rather short - annoying when much of it isn't available elsewhere. And although Savage tries to focus on the band, I still didn't come away knowing much more about Hook, Sumner and Morris - in particular their influences and their respective backgrounds. But that's minor criticism for a movie that pretty much sums up Joy Division and for me, draws a solid line under the band and Ian Curtis. This is a great visual record, made long enough after events for those involved to offer up real perspective.
A comment from Peter Saville towards the end of the movie describes Ian Curtis' life as the 'the last true rock story'. And I think I know what he means. In the glare of today's 24-hour media onslaught, someone like Ian Curtis couldn't live his life in a small terraced house in a small northern town without constant intrusion. And tragic as it was, there was nothing false about the way Ian Curtis lived that life. He suffered both mentally and physically, but at the same time, played a part in producing some of the finest music in British rock history. Joy Division (the documentary) should be the final word on the band and hopefully, the last re-telling of the Ian Curtis story. If you have any interest in the band or its music, this is a movie you really have to see.
And this should be the definitive visual record and indeed the final word on both that life and the band.
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