| Joy Division (The Miriam Collection) | 
 enlarge | Director: Grant Gee
Actors: Tony Wilson, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Peter Saville
Studio: The Weinstein Company
Category: DVD
List Price: $22.95
Buy New: $8.99
You Save: $13.96 (61%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 3702
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Ntsc, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 96
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 81027
UPC: 796019810272
EAN: 0796019810272
ASIN: B00104AYGA
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: June 17, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
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Amazon.com
While Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People took on impresario Tony Wilson and Anton Corbijn's Control concentrated on singer Ian Curtis, Grant Gee's Joy Division opts for non-fiction over biopic. Together, the three films create a multi-dimensional portrait of Manchester in the post-punk era. Curtis's minimalist quartet arose simultaneously as a product of and a reaction to their industrial environment. As Factory Records co-founder Wilson states, "I don't see this as the story of a pop group, I see this as the story of a city that once upon a time was shiny and bold and revolutionary." (Wilson succumbed to cancer shortly afterwards.) Written by Jon Savage (England's Dreaming), the narrative follows the oral history form. Aside from the surviving members of the band, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris (Curtis committed suicide in 1980), other speakers include designer Peter Saville, Curtis's girlfriend Annik Honore, and musician Genesis P. Orridge (Throbbing Gristle). Only Curtis's wife, Deborah, chose not to appear on camera, so Gee (Radiohead: Meeting People Is Easy) uses text from her biography, Touching from a Distance. Loaded with rare audio and visual material, like Joy Division's aborted RCA sessions and manager Rob Gretton's notes, Gee presents the definitive documentary of a timeless band. Unlike Corbijn's stately feature, his stylish tribute ends on a more optimistic note: with the birth of New Order in the 1980s and the re-birth of Manchester in the 2000s. Extra features include 75 minutes of bonus interviews and a BBC performance of "Transmission." --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Description
Joy Division is a "fascinating look at the brief but vital trajectory of a band that died with its troubled frontman, Ian Curtis" (Jason Gargano, Cincinnati CityBeat), only to be reborn as the equally influential New Order. Featuring interviews with all surviving band members, Joy Division explores the Manchester origins of this revolutionary act, their partnership with Factory Records founder Tony Wilson, and collaboration with legendary producer Martin Hannett.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 Incomplete film October 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Actually, this is an incomplete film because one fact: There isn't any kind of participation with Deborah Woodruffe (aka Debbie Curtis, Ian's wife), who is a central part on Ian's life and so, Joy Division's trajectory.
This unties the vision that the film tries to explore about Ian Curtis' way of thinking and final decision, showing JUST the half of Ian's dilema: an interview with the beauty and sofisticated but uncomfortable Annik (the lover), but leaving away the point of view of the person that last saw Ian alive (and who found him death), and the one he didn't want to leave because he loved her: Debbie (the wife and Ian's daughter mother).
Producers and Director should wait until they have the complete material.
In the other hand, you can watch "Control" simultaneosly (with Samantha Morton in Debbie's role, and the angel come from heaven Ana Maria Lara in Annik's role) and complete the scene.
 Even though you know the story like the back of your hand. September 24, 2008
Manc foursome led by deathtripping Ballard fan sees Pistols play their town, hooks up with rubbish TV host, frontman develops epilepsy, gets involved in extramarital affair, kills himself after band does two albums, rest of band soldiers on with drummer's girlfriend for two decades, when guitarist and bassist aren't at each other's throats, and they ignore Joy Division's canon until the end of their careers.
Third film in the series, but you know why you come back to this because they're a great band and there's more in the group than Ian Curtis. The interviews are great (RIP Tony Wilson, and I could listen to Hooky read the contents off a tin of Heinz Beans). Would some of the Granada performances been nice to be included in their entirety? You betcha. The one performance is repeated from the Control DVD. Would it have been nice to have had additional interviews? Sure. Where's Debbie? Maybe John Cooper Clarke could have popped up? That said, it's a great film. Tells a sad story. Left behind some really wonderful post-punk music.
Signed,
epsteinsmutha
Documentary September 18, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Good side: It is great collection of interviews (even with real Annik Honore).
The bad side: Created today, little archival content :-(
Anyway, it is well to watch it.
Tim.
Well worth viewing! September 7, 2008
The movie "Control" was good but not full of the stuff i wanted to know about this band. This Documentary was far better!. Even the style of the doc. is true to Joy Divisions creativity! I learned all I needed to know about the band and then some. the interviews are fantastic! and its full of just the right amount of their great music.
An Instant Classic September 3, 2008
This rock doc is a masterpiece! If you're a Radiohead fan you may have seen the doc of them titled Meeting People Is Easy, another masterpiece documentary in my opinion done by the same director as this one , Grant Gee. It is also written by a real insider into the Joy Division scene as well, Jon Savage. If you're familiar at all with Joy Division and/or New Order don't even hesitate about viewing this, it interviews everyone connected to the band imaginable with awesomely introspective bits coupled with great performance footage.
Unlike Control, the feature film centered around just the lead singer Ian Curtis, this doc covers all the bases and with style. But even if you're not quite or not at all aware of Joy Division, you will be sucked into this story I guarantee it. Yes the group is and has been immeasurably influential to the music world but the real characters/people who have lived this amazing story translate it grippingly.
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