Joy Division - Under Review

Touching from a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division This is the only in-depth biographical account of the legendary lead singer of Joy Division, written by his widow. Revered by his peers and idolised by his fans, Ian Curtis left behind a legacy rich in artistic genius. But although mesmerising on stage, in his private life he was...	Joy Division (The Miriam Collection) 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 i...	Control (The Miriam Collection) In his elegiac debut, Anton Corbijn combines the music film with the social drama to stunning success. Based on Deborah Curtis's clear-eyed biography, Touching from a Distance, Control recounts the wrenching tale of a working-class lad about to hit the highest highs only to be wa...	24 Hour Party People An ingenious docudrama on the Manchester music scene of the 1980s and '90s. 24 Hour Party People traces the rise and fall of bands like Joy Division, New Order, and Happy Mondays--bands whose success in the U.S. was limited, but whose impact in Europe (and England in particular)...	Joy Division: Piece by Piece Paul Morley knew Joy Division intimately. He not only wrote extensively and evocatively of the “mood, atmosphere and ephemeral terror” that enveloped the group and their doomed front man, Ian Curtis, but he was present when Curtis suffered his life-changing epileptic ...
Control 2007 release of the soundtrack to the Ian Curtis biopic directed by photographer/videographer Anton Corbijn and based on the book Touching From A Distance by Curtis' widow and co-producer of the film, Deborah Curtis. The film stars Sam Reilly in the title role and was first show...	Warsaw 1994 reissue of compilation of early recordings from 1977 byWarsaw, an early moniker for the Mancunian act Joy Division.This pressing features 17 raw, but respectable cuts, including five bonus tracks: 'Inside The Line', 'At A Later Date', 'Gutz', 'The Kill' and 'You're No Good F...	Torn Apart: The Life of Ian Curtis Cloaked in mystique, Joy Division's extraordinary vocalist Ian Curtis tragically took his own life in 1980, leaving just two haunting albums and a depleted band that would famously evolve into New Order. 25 years later, the enigma of Ian Curtis has deepened to an unprecedented le...	Maximum Joy Division This interview-only CD features extremely rare conversations with the band featuring the late Ian Curtis, whose tragic suicide made him an icon and hero to many of the band's original followers and many others who discovered the band since his death. This disc's release coincide...	Closer 2007 digitally remastered and expanded two CD edition of the influential Manchester quartet's 1980 album. Joy Division's influence on modern music is not only based around the band's unique sound, but also their vision, their personalities and their intense and troubled vocalist,...

Worht Watching
Saw some mnixed reviews on this dvd, but took a punt and bought it anyway- i think some of the revieweres here are expecting to see performances and interviews that don't actually exist - as far as i know there is barely any footage around of J Division - an the amount used in this is fair representation of what's out theree. A decent documetary and a nice companion piece to 'Control'. Ignore the dissenters.....

Daft
Joy Division, in their too brief career, made some very interesting music. Unknown Pleasures & Closer are great records, as is Still. Plus the story of the band and its troubled lead singer is a tragic one. But this kind of "critical review" isn't going to bring you any closer to this band. Though this assortment of oddfellows-- authors, music critics, and scenesters-- like to go on, they actually have very little to offer because these are not the kind of guys Joy Division hung out with. Most of what is gong on here is a bunch of journalists just repeating second hand news. A good documentary w/ actual band members would be interesting, but this Under Review (a notoriously rotten series) like all of the other Under Reviews does not actually talk to surviving band members. So, Under Review is not really anything but a chance for critics to hear themselves talk. A half dozen journalists speak but really three of them do most of the talking. A lot of potentially interesting topics are touched upon: punk, postpunk, the Manchester scene as opposed to the London scene, Factory Records, Tony Wilson, producer Martin Hannett, the bands public image v. private reality, Curtis' infidelity, the evolution of the Joy Division sound, the importance of various singles, Joy Division as a European band (influenced by Lou Reed/David Bowie/Iggy Pop's Berlin phases) that probably wouldn't have succeeded in the US etc... but, unfortunately, these sources are not particularly eloquent nor particularly reliable. Oddly enough Curtis' epilepsy is never mentioned, nor what part his medications may have played in his suicide. Another huge negative: If you put it all together there's probably less than one minute worth of actual footage of the band culled from their rarely seen tv appearances and interviews. Problem is that they only show maybe three to six seconds of footage from each appearance. But plenty of time is spent with the journalists (and these are the chaps that you really get to know here, not the band). If you have read an article or two about the band and/or you've seen 24 Hour Party People and/or Control you've already been presented with this material and in much more entertaining fashion.

A good introduction to the band
The documentary starts out talking about the punk scene happening in the UK at the time and how one particular Sex Pistols gig influenced an entire crowd of people who ended up forming their own bands, many of which became rather successful. It was at this gig that three gentlemen decided to form a band and called themselves Warsaw. It wasn't long before a name change to Joy Division happened and they were gigging and recording. The story is told through interviews with various music journalists and one of the co-authors of the Ian Curtis biography. They leave no stone uncovered, delving into everything including Curtis' battle with epilepsy, his extra-marital affair and his depression and eventual suicide. There is video footage, live footage, interview footage, and TV appearance footage. They do an extremely good job in educating the viewer about pretty much anything they'd want to know about Joy Division, and even give some in-depth analysis about the records and specific songs on them. I've only been a casual fan of the band and never did much research into their history and now I don't have to, it has been done for me on this DVD. The disc runs about 70 minutes long and the time seemed to go by quickly. If you are a fan of Joy Division and wanted to know more about them (which I did), you'll definitely want to add this to your wish list.

Great DVD for the fan
This is the ultimate DVD for Joy Division fans. It covers the entire story of the band in 70 minutes and includes rare performances, obscure footage and live performances of songs like 'Transmission' and 'Atmosphere'. Joy Division was a huge musical influence on many bands and remains a favorite of many listeners to this very day.

My Review of Under Review
No matter how much black metal, power electronics and hardcore flies across my desk and into my ears, the status of my favorite band is a toss up between The Police and Joy Division. The Under Review series are documentaries focusing on a specific band's musical material - often breaking down songs to examine them from lyrics, to structure and rhythm. With past volumes about AC/DC and Rolling Stones, I was really floored when I saw they were doing one on Joy Division. I'm not let down either, as they used live footage I hadn't seen, plus rare interviews with the band. Authors of Joy Division books, as well as personal friends tell the story of the band's beginnings as Warsaw to their demise (due to Curtis' suicide) and transformation into New Order. The extras include an Ian Curtis interview, as well as what they call 'The Hardest Joy Division Quiz Ever'... okay, I agree on that. This is a real must for any fan of the band. Not much video material out there on Joy Division, so this makes up for a bit of that.