Joy Division: The Documentary

nik.mercer — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:28:47 -0700

Joy Division is one of those bands that gains importance, notoriety, and significance exponentially as the years pass. While the quartet existed for a mere three years or so, it has passed the test of time: few artists today would deny Joy Division's lasting influence on pop music. That being said, though, one can't help but think that our perception of the group has changed due to a widespread explication of the outfit, what the four Manchester lads stood for, and why they've stuck around for so long, even though Ian Curtis, the frontman, died twenty-eight years ago.

A handful of writers, directors, and producers have attempted to retell the Joy Division story for a myriad reasons. 24 Hours Party People, the Tony Wilson book, sought to explain the cultural significance of Factory Records, his company; the film of the same name tried to bring to life the aesthetic qualities of Manchester in the 1970s and 1980s and stress how that scene preempted much of modern music; Control, the Ian Curtis biopic, feebly had a go at openly analyzing Curtis' psychological standing in a melodramatic manner, making it seem as though his story was one not of music, but of depression and guilt brought on by a bad marriage. The latest film to explore the world of Joy Division is Joy Division, a straight-up documentary by Grant Gee. In it, Joy Division is positioned as a seminal band, but Gee makes little effort to explain why they're so great. It's unlikely that anyone watching the film would not diehard, but that doesn't mean the film should've omitted any sort of cohesive thesis.

The movie is by no means uninformative. It's packed with amazing live footage that's never been shown publicly, hundreds of photos, many of which hadn't been released, and especially articulate interviews from Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner, Steven Morris, Peter Saville, Tony Wilson, and many more. Deborah Curtis, Ian's wife, is unfortunately only in Joy Division in spirit, and the creators of the film had some difficulty in getting the rights to use materials they wanted to integrate (more concert footage, the only filmed interview with Curtis, etc.)

If you're looking for a textbook sort of discussion of the band that was Joy Division, Gee's new documentary is all you need. It does a better job of telling the world just what Joy Division meant to music at the time and thirty years later and doesn't delve too deep into emotional background noise and static. An objective stance on the myth.

At some point, music historians and listeners alike have to ask if exposing a certain unfound talent or overlooked artifact of the past is worthwhile. As a group, we can only become so aware of the tradition of music that has preceded us... once we hit "critical mass"—the point at which we've been fed all the information there is out there on said act—there's no use in digging any deeper. Hearsay, superstition, and imagination with overcome objective explanation, and that's something we need to avoid if we wish to respect those lasting names and outfits we admire.

Let's hope that no one else touches the legacy of Joy Division in any way, shape, or form for years to come. If ex-band members, people who were there at the time, label executives from the era, and other related folks keep being prompted to talk about Curtis and his band, we'll only slip further away from the truth into frenzied fantasy. Let's try to keep the facts straight now and reverentially remember the four-piece before we completely commoditize the name.

In the media player to the right are some photos from the L.A. screening that was put on by Microsoft Zune. Hooky's gotten better at DJ'ing, although he still can't spin...

Joy Division: The Documentary Offical Website

Joy Division: The Documentary Trailer