Despite the fact that Joy Division only existed for four years, they had enduring influence over the minds of all music lovers. In an enlightening and interesting format, this documentary shows why.
The film begins, logically, with the band’s beginning. Although necessary, this causes the movie to start on a fairly slow footing. It’s worth waiting, though – the film soon becomes mesmerising as the band starts to move away from anti-establishment ‘noise’ (inspired by The Sex Pistols) and make something entirely unique. Everything comes together under the haunting song ‘Disorder’. The film’s images, particularly the concert clips that show Curtis’ unique performance style, suddenly feel like documentation of not just a rock band, but of history being made.
Curtis’ death, not surprisingly, takes up a large portion of the film. Curtis was diagnosed with epilepsy early in the band’s history and the medication gave him horrific mood-swings. The interviewees’ reactions to Curtis’s suicide are the most shocking and revealing part of the film: bassist Peter Hook was about to wolf down his Sunday roast when the phone rang. After learning of Curtis’s suicide Hook simply said: ‘Oh’, and sat back down to eat.
The Monday after Curtis was buried the remaining members got right back to band practice. As New Order they went on to become even more successful than Joy Division. And while Joy Division ended in tragic circumstances, their influence only increased. Thus the film does not end in tragedy, but in fact teaches us something more about human existence: that life does indeed go on.
