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Joy Division (3 Reviews)

The Short Life of Ian Curtis-Joy Division's Tortured Genius

Reviews:  
24 Hour Party People (2002, Michael Winterbottom)
Joy Division (2007, Grant Gee)
Control (2007, Anton Corbijn)



​Last week I ticked off a bucket list item by seeing New Order in concert in Chicago.  In what was perhaps the best live show I've ever seen, I was struck by how much of a "
Joy Division" vibe they threw off throughout the show. For those who may not be fans of either band, Joy Division became New Order in 1980.  I'd always been a Joy Division fan, but beyond knowing that their lead singer, Ian Curtis, died by suicide, I had left most of my interest purely on the music.  The Friday night concert vibe changed that, however, and I wanted to learn more.  It didn't take long to remember a 2001 film called 24 Hour Party People, which is essentially a biopic of Tony Wilson, who singlehandedly created the Manchester music renaissance in the late 70's and 80's, which included Joy Division and New Order, along with The Happy Mondays, The Buzzcocks, and several others.  Starring the wonderful Steve Coogan, and shot in a whimsical fashion that allows Wilson to occasionally break the 4th wall to make a point, the film tells the wild ups and down of Wilson, who essentially creating the Rave culture that swept the world during the 80's & 90's.  His story is incredibly interesting and touches on Joy Division's demise, so I watched the film again and was fully entertained.

Of course that wasn't enough, so I searched out and found 2 films from 2007 that filled in the remainder of the 
Joy Division and Ian Curtis story.  The first is a documentary simply called Joy Division (2007) that features archival performances going back to when the band was called Warsaw and 2006 interviews with the living bandmates and associates.  What first struck me about the film was the absolutely hypnotic performance style of Curtis, which is wholly unique in his herky-jerky dance movements and the intensity in which he sang.  Imagine a loose combination of David Bryne and Jim Morrison, with lyrics that burrow their way into your soul. The overwhelming take away from the film, however, was the absolute regret everyone had about not understanding the pain Curtis was going through and the emotional, physical and psychic toll each performance took on him.  He suffered from epilepsy, which furthered his isolation, and the medication to control his seizures, added to mood swings and depression.  The film is a fantastic chronicle of the band, putting Curtis front and center, just as he was when alive.
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​Finally, Control (2007), based on Curtis' widow Deborah's biography Touching From a Distance, delves deeply into Curtis' life, his struggles and his process.  Sam Riley stars as Curtis and Samantha Morton plays his wife, with both actors offering captivating performances.  Deborah is a devoted wife, the couple married in their teens, even in the face of Curtis' infidelity, betrayal and ultimate abandonment before his death.  Riley captures Curtis' physicality, his isolation and torment, but also his deeply caring work as a social worker and his confusion over loving another woman.  While the actors perform the Joy Division songs, there is an honesty in the attempt that rings true. 
If I were to recommend one of these 3 films, based solely on quality, it would be Control, because after seeing all three, it distilled down all the emotion, the intensity and the purity of Curtis in its 2 hour runtime.  Watch 24 Hour Party People for the spectacle and Joy Division for the history, but Control for the real story.
Control (7.6 IMDB rating) can be streamed on Apple TV & Amazon for a fee or free with ads on Hooppla, Tubi or Pluto TV.
24 Hour Party People (7.3 IMDB) can be streamed on Apple TV & Amazon for a fee or free with ads on Hooppla, Tubi or Pluto TV.
Joy Division (7.7 IMDB)  can be streamed on Apple TV & Amazon for a fee or free with ads on Hooppla and Plex.
​
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  • Home
  • Top 10 Lists
    • My Top 10 Favorite Movies
    • Top 10 Heist Movies
    • Top 10 Neo-Noir Films
    • The Top 10 Films of the Troubles (1969-1998) >
      • The Troubles Selected Timeline
    • Top 10 Films from 2001
    • Director Top 10's >
      • Top 10 Film Noir Directors
      • Top 10 Coen Brothers Films
      • Top 10 John Ford Films
      • Top 10 Samuel Fuller Films
      • Top 10 Alfred Hitchcock Films
      • Top 10 John Huston Films
      • Top 10 Fritz Lang Films (American)
      • Val Lewton Top 10
      • Top 10 Ernst Lubitsch Films
      • Top 10 Jean-Pierre Melville Films
      • Top 10 Nicholas Ray Films
      • Top 10 Preston Sturges Films
      • Top 10 Robert Siodmak Films
      • Top 10 William Wellman Films
      • Top 10 Billy Wilder Films
    • Actor/Actress Top 10's >
      • Top 10 Joan Blondell Movies
      • Top 10 Clark Gable Movies
      • Top 10 Ava Gardner Films
      • Top 10 Gloria Grahame Films
      • Top 10 Jean Harlow Movies
      • Top 10 Miriam Hopkins Films
      • Top 10 Grace Kelly Films
      • Top 10 Burt Lancaster Films
      • Top 10 Carole Lombard Movies
      • Top 10 Myrna Loy Films
      • Top 10 Marilyn Monroe Films
      • Top 10 Robert Mitchum Noir Movies
      • Top 10 Paul Newman Films
      • Top 10 Robert Ryan Movies
      • Top 10 Norma Shearer Movies
      • Top 10 Barbara Stanwyck Films
    • Top 10 Noir Films (Classic Era)
    • Top 10 Pre-Code Films
    • Top 10 Actresses of the 1930's
  • Reviews
    • Quick Hits: Short Takes on Recent Viewing >
      • Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache
      • Elevator to the Gallows ('58)
      • Days of Heaven
      • Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
      • Incindies (2010)
      • In the Mood For Love (2000)
      • Last Picture Show Teaser Intro
      • Le Silence De La Mer ('49)
      • The Princess Bride ('87) Intro
      • Pulp Fiction ('94) Intro
    • The 1910's >
      • The Lubitsch German Silents
    • The 1920's >
      • The Odessa Steps Sequence as Continuing Film History
      • Sunrise (1927)
      • Wild Orchids ('29)
    • The 1930's >
      • Becky Sharp (1935)
      • Blonde Crazy
      • Bombshell ('33)
      • The Cheat
      • The Conquerors
      • The Crowd Roars
      • The Divorcee
      • Frank Capra & Barbara Stanwyck: The Evolution of a Romance
      • Heroes for Sale
      • The Invisible Man (1933)
      • L'Atalante (1934)
      • Let Us Be Gay
      • My Man Godfrey
      • No Man of Her Own (1932)
      • Platinum Blonde ('31)
      • Reckless ('35)
      • The Sign of the Cross (1932)
      • The Sin of Nora Moran (1932)
      • True Confession ('37)
      • Virtue ('32)
      • The Women
    • The 1940's >
      • Casablanca (1942)
      • The Story of Citizen Kane
      • Criss Cross (1949)
      • Double indemnity
      • Jean Arthur in A Foreign Affair
      • The Killers 1946 & 1964 Comparison
      • The Maltese Falcon Intro
      • Moonrise (1948)
      • My Gal Sal (1942)
      • Nightmare Alley
      • Notorious Intro ('46)
      • Overlooked Christmas Movies of the 1940's
      • Pursued (1947)
      • Remember the Night ('40)
      • The Red Shoes (1948)
      • The Set-Up ('49)
      • They Won't Believe Me (1947)
      • The Third Man
    • The 1950's >
      • The Asphalt Jungle Secret Cinema Intro
      • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ('58) Intro
      • The Crimson Kimono (1959)
      • A Face in the Crowd (1957)
      • In a Lonely Place
      • A Kiss Before Dying (1956)
      • Mogambo ('53)
      • Niagara (1953)
      • The Night of The Hunter ('55)
      • Pushover Noir City
      • Rear Window (1954)
      • Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
      • Red Dust ('32 vs Mogambo ('53)
      • The Searchers ('56)
      • Singin' in the Rain Introduction
      • Some Like It Hot ('59) >
        • Some Like it Hot Intro (Beyond the Bay)
    • The 1960's >
      • The April Fools (1969)
      • Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
      • Cape Fear ('62)
      • Cool Hand Luke (1967) Intro
      • Dr Strangelove Intro
      • For a Few Dollars More (1965)
      • Fistful of Dollars (1964)
      • The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1968)
      • The Hustler ('61) Intro
      • The Man With No Name Trilogy
      • The Misfits ('61)
      • The Umbrellas of Cherbourg/La La Land
    • The 1970's >
      • Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
      • American Graffiti Introduction
      • Chinatown Introduction
      • The Friends of Eddie Coyle ('73)
      • Jaws Intro
    • The 1980's >
      • Blood Simple ('84)
      • A Christmas Story Intro
      • Scarface (1983)
    • The 1990's >
      • The General (1998)
    • 2000's >
      • Belfast (2021)
      • Blonde (2022)
      • Hunger (2008)
      • In Bruges (2008)
      • Joy Division
      • Mank (2020)
      • No Man's Land (2001)
      • Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
      • Wall-E
      • Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)
      • The Top 10 Films I watched in 2020
  • Artists
    • Actors/Actresses >
      • Joan Blondell
      • Faye Dunaway: 1967-1976
      • The Noir Villainy of Dan Duryea
      • Clark Gable Bio
      • Jean Harlow Bio
      • Veronica Lake
      • Norma Shearer
    • Directors/Producers/Cinematographers >
      • Founders Series: Alice Guy-Blache
      • John Alton
      • Joan Harrison-Producer/Writer
      • Hitchcock & Cary Grant
      • William Wellman
    • Books >
      • Book Reviews >
        • Book Review: Clark Gable by D. Bret
      • Pre-Code
      • Actor Bios
      • Film Noir
      • Director Bios
      • Studio Head Bios
      • Hollywood History
    • Studio
  • Resources
    • Sight & Sound Top 100 2022
    • NOTES >
      • American Graffiti Notes
      • Anatomy of a Murder Notes
      • The Asphalt Jungle Outline
      • Breakfast Club Notes
      • Citizen Kane Notes
      • It's A Wonderful Life Notes
      • Rebel Without a Cause Notes
      • Singin' in the Rain Notes
    • CMBA Interview/Profile
    • Bay Cinema Society Press
    • Hollywood History >
      • Production Code
      • Film Noir
  • Video Introductions
    • Video Introductions
  • Last Picture Show Notes
  • Paul Verhoeven